Hypnosis has been used to treat many problems, including these:
ulcers
frigidity
impotence
headaches and migraines
insomnia
arthritic pain
colitis
tachycardia
obesity
depression
phobias
antisocial behavior
disturbed children
amnesia
stuttering
nervous tics
sexual inhibitions
dental anxiety and pain
heart palpitations
abdominal cramps
tension and anxiety
overeating
reduction or elimination of smoking
Both men and women are equally hypnotizable. Children are generally better subjects than adults. As already noted, clients who are more anxious tend to accept hypnotic suggestion more readily. Clients who are motivated to change respond best to hypnotic suggestion. Individuals who are imaginative, who had fictitious companions in childhood, who read a good deal, and who can become readily absorbed in nature are inclined to make good subjects. Good rapport between client and therapist and a sense of trust in the therapist's goodwill and ability contribute greatly to successful hypnotherapy.
Russian-born Lewis R. Wolberg (1905-1988) was a leading New York hypnotherapist originally trained as a psychoanalyst. He is recognized for the comprehensiveness and eclecticism of his approach. After forty years of practice, he came to see its main limitation:
Because hypnosis is so dramatic a phenomenon, it is easy to overestimate its potential. A great many things may be accomplished with a subject in a trance, even the removal of psychologically determined symptoms.... But almost immediately after hypnosis has ended, or shortly thereafter, the symptoms will return if the subject has a psychological need for them. [italics added] ...
Quite often patients on disability compensation are sent to me by insurance companies for hypnotic examination and treatment. Almost invariably, these casualties cling to their symptoms with the desperation of a drowning man hanging on to a raft....
There are other secondary gains a person may get out of holding onto his symptoms. The need to punish himself for his guilt feelings, the desire to abandon an adult adjustment and return to the protective blanket of infancy in order to be taken care of.... Symptoms do not magically vanish; they must be worn down. It is essential to replace them with productive habits."[[8]]
[[8]] Wolberg, Hypnosis, pp. 237-239.