Hypnosis: state of the art and perspectives for the twenty-first century

In this presidential lecture research evidence is addressed for the effectiveness of clinical hypnosis as a psychotherapeutic and medical healing method. The state of the art is characterized by meta-analyses indicating the usefulness and effectiveness of clinical hypnosis and by neuroimaging data indicating hypnotic trance exists as a separate state of consciousness. Hypnosis research can profit from mainstream psychological research as well as inspire it by putting the research focus on the underlying processes of communication, rapport, attention and perception. In future developments, hypnosis is also seen as the home-base for research and the therapeutic usage of suggestions. A new paradigm for pharmaceutical research is envisioned in which efforts to maximize substance-effects by proper suggestive communication are to be enhanced, once the effectiveness of the medical drug has been demonstrated. Copyright © 2009 British Society of Experimental & Clinical Hypnosis. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.