Is Hypnotherapy Alternative Medicine?
This is a very common question which has been the subject of much debate both within and outside of the profession for many years. Hypnotherapy is recognised by many organisations which align themselves with “alternative medicine”, yet many hypnotherapists want to steer clear of this, because of other “therapies” within this category.
It should be said that over the past several years the term “alternative medicine” has been replaced by “complementary therapy”, which in my opinion is a better fit for both hypnotherapy and the other modalities usually associated with it. Hypnotherapy is not medicine, yet it is used by the medical world for surgery and treatment of IBS and in some cases of burns and skin disorders.
Hypnotherapy is also aligned to the psychological and psychotherapeutic worlds in that it is used to assist in the treatment of a variety or emotional, psychological and behavioural issues. Indeed, hypnosis is recognised as part of the psychotherapeutic modality of hypno-psychotherapy which is a recognised psychotherapeutic modality in the UK and Europe.
So back to the question, is hypnotherapy alternative medicine? I would say that the answer is that hypnotherapy transcends many different professions, therapeutic and philosophical constructs, so it is impossible to put it in a single category box.
