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Understanding Iatrogenic Injuries and How Hypnotherapy Offers a Safer Alternative

Therapy is often seen as a safe space for healing and growth, but sometimes the very process that’s supposed to help can actually harm.

This is known as iatrogenic injury—when treatment inadvertently leads to more harm than benefit. While it might sound counterintuitive, research shows that certain therapeutic approaches, when not applied carefully, can exacerbate existing issues, leaving the worse off than if they had not gone to therapy.

Iatrogenic injury can create new psychological problems, and even impede long-term healing. Let’s delve into how this happens, explore some real-world examples, and explain why hypnotherapy offers a unique way to avoid these pitfalls.

What Is Iatrogenic Injury?

The term “iatrogenic” comes from the Greek words iatros (physician) and genes (born of). In medical and psychological contexts, it refers to complications or adverse effects caused by the treatment itself. In psychotherapy, iatrogenic harm can manifest in several ways, such as the worsening of symptoms, development of new psychological disorders, and reinforcement of negative thought patterns.

According to studies published in the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, between 3% to 10% of symptoms actually get worse as a result of treatment, with certain vulnerable populations, such as individuals with trauma, being at higher risk of iatrogenic injuries.

How Traditional Therapy Can Cause Harm: Examples

Prolonged Exposure

Trauma-focused therapies like prolonged exposure (PE) are intended to help clients confront and process painful memories. However, if not applied correctly, these techniques can cause iatrogenic injuries and retraumatize clients. For instance, a study in Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy found that prolonged exposure, when conducted without sufficient emotional grounding and regulation skills, increased PTSD symptoms rather than alleviating them. This iatrogenic injuries effect occurs because the client is flooded with painful emotions without the resources or emotional resilience to handle them, leading to emotional overwhelm and regression.

False Memory Syndrome

Certain therapeutic techniques, such as suggestive questioning or “memory recovery” sessions, have been shown to create false memories, leading to a phenomenon known as False Memory Syndrome. A landmark study published in Psychological Science highlighted cases where individuals were led to believe in traumatic events that never happened, leading to iatrogenic injury, emotional distress and damaged relationships. Such suggestive techniques can be particularly harmful in vulnerable clients, leading to severe confusion and psychological harm.

Dependency and Learned Helplessness

Therapy that overly emphasizes the therapist-client relationship, without promoting client autonomy, can lead to dependency. This effect is noted in therapies that fail to transition the client from guided support to self-efficacy. As a result, clients may begin to feel helpless and incapable of handling life’s challenges independently, leading to worsened self-esteem and reinforced anxiety or depression.

How Hypnotherapy Avoids Iatrogenic Injury

Hypnotherapy offers a safer approach by bypassing many of these common pitfalls. Because it works primarily at the level of the superconscious, hypnotherapy doesn’t require clients to re-experience traumatic memories in the same way. Instead, it can neutralize the emotional charge of these memories and allow for reframing and processing without the conscious distress that can arise in traditional talk therapy.

Minimal Emotional Flooding

Hypnotherapy provides unique ways to process traumatic events without overwhelming the client. Studies published in the American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis show that hypnosis can reduce distressing emotional responses by accessing the superconscious and reframing traumatic experiences from a detached perspective. This allows clients to process difficult emotions safely, minimizing the risk of iatrogenic injury.

No Suggestion of False Memories

Unlike some traditional therapies, well-conducted hypnotherapy avoids suggestive techniques that can create false memories. Hypnotherapists are trained to use non-directive approaches that focus on an experience guided by the superconscious, rather than the therapist leading them to “discover” or recall events that may not have occurred.

Empowering Rather Than Dependent

Hypnotherapy emphasizes client autonomy and empowerment. Instead of relying on external validation or the therapist’s guidance, clients learn to access their own internal resources and solutions, guided by their own superconscious. This approach fosters self-efficacy and reduces the risk of learned helplessness, which is a common issue in some long-term therapeutic relationships.

Research Supporting Hypnotherapy’s Safety

Research supports that hypnotherapy, when conducted by a trained professional, has a lower risk of adverse effects compared to traditional therapies. A meta-analysis in the International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis reported that hypnotherapy was associated with a significant reduction in trauma symptoms, without the heightened risk of iatrogenic injury seen in certain talk therapies.

Additionally, hypnotherapy has been shown to promote brain changes that facilitate healing and emotional regulation. Functional MRI studies demonstrate that hypnosis enhances connectivity between the emotional regulation centers of the brain and the prefrontal cortex, which governs rational thought and decision-making. This enhanced connectivity can help clients process emotions safely and without emotional flooding.

The Safest Path on Your Journey

If you’ve experienced therapy that has left you feeling worse or wanting more, the issue may lie in the approach, not in your ability to heal. Hypnotherapy offers a gentler, more direct path to transformation by working at the superconscious level, where real, lasting change happens. By bypassing the need to revivify or re-experience trauma and engage in endless analysis, hypnotherapy can help you access your superconscious mind—the part that knows how to heal—without risking the iatrogenic harm that traditional therapies can sometimes cause.