Hypnotherapy and Breast Cancer
For sufferers of breast cancer hypnosis has been shown to assist with the fatigue associated with radiotherapy. Hypnosis when combined with Cognitive Behavioural Therapy has been shown to reduce fatigue in a randomised controlled study reported in Journal of Clinical Oncology (2014; doi:10.1200/JCO.2013.49.3437).
The average person in this study reported 79% less fatigue than the control group in this study after radiotherapy. After six months 95% of the treatment group had less fatigue than the control group.
Studies like this are very important on a number of different levels. First of all, cancer is a reality and anything that can be offered to help patients with the treatment should be encouraged. You will note that I said help with the treatment. This is not the same as practitioners who claim that hypnosis can be used as a treatment in and of itself. Hypnosis may be a powerful tool, but it is not a cure nor treatment for cancer. It is something that can be used as an adjunct treatment, and this should be in concert with the oncologist working with the patient.
Studies like this show that hypnosis has a great deal to offer in the treatment of medical as well as psychological conditions. Practitioners need to be research literate in order to provide the best service to their clients.
