Cognitive hypnotherapy with bulimia.

Research on the efficacy of hypnosis in the treatment of bulimia nervosa has produced mixed findings. This is due in part to the interplay between the characteristics of people with bulimia and the wide variety of hypnosis interventions that have been employed. Several authors have noted that methodological limitations in hypnosis research often make evaluation of treatment efficacy difficult. Many of the studies extant provide insufficient information regarding the specifics of participants' hypnotizability, the hypnotic induction, or the hypnotic suggestion(s) employed. Such limitations preclude replication and clinical implementation. This article reviews the literature with replicable methodologies and discusses the implications for evaluating treatment efficacy.

Am J Clin Hypn. 2012 Apr;54(4):353-64. Barabasz M. Washington State University, Pullman, Washington 99164-2136, USA. mbarabasz@wsu.edu