The NHS should make more use of hypnosis – and save patients from "cowboys", practitioners said today.
A group of practitioners says the treatment should only be given by medically trained people.
The proposal is launched today by the Hypnosis and Psychosomatic Medicine section of the Royal Society of Medicine.
The group points out that hypnosis is recognised as a treatment for irritable bowel syndrome by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence.
President-elect Dr Peter Naish, a psychologist, said many therapists caused problems by using "false memory syndrome."
He said: "These so-called therapists induce a completely false memory in a vulnerable patient which is of no therapeutic use whatsoever and can cause very serious harm. I’ve treated patients whose lives – and that of their families – have been devastated by the induction of a false memory of sexual abuse.
"They’ve paid a lot of money and all they get in return is additional emotional trauma, while still suffering from the condition for which they first sought help."
The current president Jacky Owens, a nurse, said: “Conditions such as depression, pain and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) affect millions of people in the UK and a great cost to the NHS. But hypnosis can often work where other treatments have been unsuccessful.
“If doctors were able to refer patients to properly trained hypnotherapists, it would save a cash-strapped NHS a great deal of money.
"Making hypnosis a standard part of the NHS toolbox would also lead to the public becoming better informed about the procedure and mean that vulnerable patients would be less likely to turn to hypno-cowboys."
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