The Use of Clinical Hypnotherapy to Improve Outcomes in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes

Abstract

Objective

The medical education and practice of medicine have been focused on medications, surgeries, and other physical modalities of treatment for decades. Despite evidence showing that the subconscious mind is effective for influencing the general health of the body, the utilization of the subconsciousmind has been largely absent in medical training and practices. Clinical hypnotherapy is an effective method in which the unconscious level of the mind can be accessed and potentially utilized for healing physical ailments.

Research Design and Methods

This pilotstudy was designed to quantitatively research the effect that Hypnotherapy has on processing blood sugar levels with type 2 diabetics. Participants were randomly assigned to a control group with clinical therapeutic treatments but without hypnotherapy sessions and other therapeutic treatment, and an experimental group that received 5 specially designed sessions of hypnotherapy to supplement their clinical therapeutic treatment. Baseline HgbA1C levels were obtained in both groups, and again at 3 and 6 months after the onset of the study. Daily blood sugars and responses to stressors were also measured and logged by all participants.

Results

All participants in the experimental group improved in handling daily stress and processing blood sugar. All control group participants experienced more difficulty in managing daily stress as well as experienced greater difficulty in processing blood sugar.

Conclusions

This clinical trial serves as a pilot study and provided statistically significant results that proper clinical hypnotherapy can be usedas an important tool for the treatment of type 2 diabetic patients.