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LETTERS: Gregory A Plotnikoff and Mark B Weisberg Why pills more than skills? BMJ 2009; 338: a3148 [Full text]

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Hypnotherapy and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for IBS; The Old Competitors, The New Collaborators

Ali Gholamrezaei, Mohammad Hassan Emami, Associate Prof. of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran   (28 January 2009)

Hypnotherapy and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for IBS; The Old Competitors, The New Collaborators 28 January 2009
Ali Gholamrezaei, Research Assistant Poursina Hakim Research Institute, Isfahan, Iran. PO BOX: 81465-1798, Mohammad Hassan Emami, Associate Prof. of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran Send response to journal: Re: Hypnotherapy and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for IBS; The Old Competitors, The New Collaborators	Hypnotherapy and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) are the most studied psychological interventions for patients with Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS). Both treatments have been shown to be effective in reducing symptoms and improving quality of life in patients with refractory IBS with long term results up to 5 years [1,2]. While these two distinct treatments go separately through these years, they could be integrated to Cognitive Hypnotherapy and perhaps create a more effective treatment for IBS [3]. IBS patients need to receive cognitive interventions and hypnotherapy resulted in cognitive changes in parallel with symptoms improvement in these patients [4]. Meta-analysis showed that the addition of hypnosis to CBT substantially enhanced the treatment outcome [5]. So, why not to integrate the two competitors to create a collaborative strategy? Controlled clinical trials on the efficacy of Cognitive Hypnotherapy in the treatment of IBS are strongly recommended. Reference List (1) Lackner JM, Mesmer C, Morley S, et al. Psychological treatments for irritable bowel syndrome: a systematic review and meta-analysis. J Consult Clin Psychol 2004;72(6):1100-13. (2) Gonsalkorale WM, Miller V, Afzal A, et al. Long term benefits of hypnotherapy for irritable bowel syndrome. Gut 2003;52(11):1623-9. (3) Golden WL. Cognitive-behavioral hypnotherapy in the treatment of irritable-bowel-syndrome-induced agoraphobia. 2007. (4) Gonsalkorale WM, Toner BB, Whorwell PJ. Cognitive change in patients undergoing hypnotherapy for irritable bowel syndrome. J Psychosom Res 2004;56(3):271-8. (5) Kirsch I. Hypnosis as an adjunct to cognitive-behavioral psychotherapy: a meta-analysis. 1995. Competing interests: None declared