Does hypnotherapy work for addiction and bad habits? The honest evidence
I’m a clinical hypnotherapist, so you’d expect me to say yes. That’s exactly why this page links to the research, and why I’ve included the findings that don’t flatter my own field.
The short answer is that it depends on what you want help with. For irritable bowel syndrome there is enough evidence for NICE to say it should be considered in some cases. For smoking, weight and sleep the research is mixed and mostly small. For alcohol, drug or gambling addiction it is not a treatment, and anyone who tells you otherwise is overselling it.
What is hypnotherapy, in plain words?
The NHS describes hypnotherapy as using relaxation techniques to try to improve unhealthy habits or ways of thinking. University College London Hospitals, which offers hypnosis to some NHS patients, says it is often accompanied by a sense of being relaxed, with an increasing focus inward, and that it can be done by yourself as self-hypnosis or by following a practitioner’s instructions.
In practice you sit or lie comfortably, with your eyes closed, while I talk. You aren’t asleep or unconscious. You can hear everything, and you can open your eyes whenever you like. People vary in how strongly they respond to hypnotic suggestion, and researchers describe this as a fairly stable trait (Terhune, King’s College London, 2024). I see hypnosis as a tool used within therapy rather than a therapy on its own, so what is said during it matters as much as the trance itself.
Does hypnotherapy work? What the research says, issue by issue
| Issue | What the best evidence says | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Smoking | No clear evidence it beats other stop smoking support. If there is a benefit, it is small at most. Low certainty. | Cochrane, 2019 |
| Vaping | No good trials of hypnotherapy that I know of. Early evidence for text message support and varenicline only. | Cochrane, 2025 |
| Weight loss | Some studies show a little extra weight loss when hypnosis is added to a programme, but the evidence is scarce and of limited quality. | Pellegrini and others, 2021 |
| Sleep | Promising but limited. Small studies, many of low quality. CBT is the main NHS treatment for insomnia. | Chamine and others, 2018 |
| Alcohol | One small trial only. Not a treatment for alcohol dependence. | Shestopal and Bramness, 2018 |
| Gambling | Very little research. The evidence supports CBT. | Cochrane |
| Nail biting and similar habits | Habit reversal training is the main evidence-based approach. Little research on hypnotherapy. | NHS |
| IBS | NICE says hypnotherapy should be considered when medicines haven’t helped after 12 months. | NICE CG61 |
Does hypnotherapy work for smoking?
Smoking is one of the most studied areas. The 2019 Cochrane review pooled 14 studies with 1,926 people and found no clear evidence that hypnotherapy is better than other approaches, such as counselling of the same length. Studies that added hypnotherapy to other treatment looked more positive, but they had a high risk of bias, so the authors urge caution. If there is a benefit, they say, it is small at most.
My honest reading is that hypnotherapy is a reasonable thing to try alongside the support that has the strongest evidence, not instead of it. Free NHS stop smoking services, which the NHS says can improve your chances of quitting, are a better first step, and you can use both. My guides to stopping smoking and quitting vaping cover all the options.
Does hypnosis work for weight loss?
Earlier meta-analyses found that people lost a little more weight when hypnosis was added to a weight loss programme than with the programme alone. But a 2021 review in Current Obesity Reports concluded that the evidence for hypnosis as a way of losing weight is scarce, because most studies were small and their quality was limited. Where hypnotherapy may help is with the habits around food, such as grazing, eating when stressed or eating on autopilot. My page on overeating goes into those.
Does hypnosis help with sleep?
A 2018 systematic review of 24 studies found that just over half reported a benefit for sleep, with some mixed results and some showing none. The authors called it a promising treatment that merits more research, while noting that many studies were small and of low quality. A 2015 meta-analysis found that hypnotherapy helped people fall asleep faster than doing nothing, but no faster than a sham treatment (Lam and others, 2015). If you have long-term insomnia, see your GP, as the NHS may offer CBT (NHS, insomnia). Relaxing hypnosis at bedtime can still be a pleasant, low-risk part of a wind-down routine.
Does hypnotherapy work for alcohol or gambling?
For alcohol, I found one randomised trial, of 31 people on a six week inpatient treatment programme in Norway. Hypnotherapy did about as well as motivational interviewing, but everyone was also getting the full programme, and the authors said the design meant the real effect could not be shown. That is far too little to call hypnotherapy a treatment for drinking problems.
For gambling, the Cochrane review of talking therapies found the most support for CBT, and I’m not aware of any good trials of hypnotherapy. The NICE guideline on gambling harms, published in January 2025, does not mention hypnotherapy. If drinking or gambling is causing you harm, start with the services on my help with addiction page.
Does hypnotherapy work for nail biting?
Nail biting, skin picking and hair pulling belong to the same family of habits. The approach with the most support is habit reversal training, which the NHS describes as learning to notice the habit and its triggers and replacing it with something less harmful. There’s very little research on hypnotherapy for these habits, so I use hypnosis to support habit reversal rather than replace it. My nail biting page has the steps.
Who hypnotherapy suits, and who it may not
In my experience it suits people who already want to change, will practise between sessions and want help with the stress, triggers and routines that keep a habit going. It is a poor fit if you’re only there because someone else wants you to stop.
- Check with your doctor first if you have schizophrenia or a history of psychosis, or epilepsy. The NHS says hypnotherapy may not be safe for you, and that you should tell any therapist about your medical conditions and medicines.
- Get proper treatment first for alcohol or drug dependence, gambling problems or an eating disorder. Hypnotherapy can sit alongside that care but it can’t replace it.
- Don’t stop prescribed medicines because you’ve started hypnotherapy. Speak to your prescriber or pharmacist before changing anything.
Why some people say hypnotherapy did nothing
On Reddit you’ll find people for whom hypnotherapy made a real difference and people who say it did nothing. Both can be true. In my experience, the usual reasons it disappoints are these:
- Expecting to be switched off. Hypnosis doesn’t take away your choices. If you expect to wake up a non-smoker without doing anything, you’ll be let down.
- Low motivation. If only a small part of you wants to change, there’s little to work with.
- A single session with no follow-up. A long-standing habit has many triggers, and one session may not reach them all. Listening back to a recording and practising between sessions matters.
- The practitioner. A generic script read to everyone is not the same as work built around your habit.
- The research itself. For many issues any real effect is modest. Some people will get little from it, and that’s worth knowing before you pay.
Hypnotherapy success rates, and what the ASA allows
You’ll see websites quoting very high hypnotherapy success rates. Treat them with caution. The Advertising Standards Authority says success claims must be based on rigorous evidence, and not worked out from clients who simply don’t come back. For smoking, it says blood tests are likely to be the only way to confirm someone has stopped. In 2023 it ruled that an advert for a three-week hypnotic gastric band programme was misleading, because there was no evidence it would produce noticeable weight loss in that time.
The ASA accepts that hypnotherapy can be used to help relieve anxiety and aid sleep, and to help with things like confidence and eating problems (but not eating disorders). Claims to treat addiction, depression or eating disorders are likely to be treated as serious medical claims. The advertising code also requires proof before anyone claims or implies that minor addictions and bad habits can be treated without effort from the person (ASA, hypnotherapy advice). That’s why you won’t find a success rate on this site.
How to judge a hypnotherapist
- Ask about their training. Hypnotherapists don’t have to be registered by law in the UK, and the ASA notes that training varies widely.
- The NHS advises checking that a private therapist is registered with a professional organisation accredited by the Professional Standards Authority.
- A good practitioner asks about your health and medicines, tells you when you need a GP instead, and doesn’t promise results or push a big package on the first call.
Where I stand
I’ve worked as a clinical hypnotherapist for 17 years, with a psychology degree and postgraduate qualifications in clinical hypnotherapy, both at Distinction. You can read more about my qualifications. I use hypnotherapy for habits such as smoking, vaping, snacking and nail biting, combined with practical methods like habit reversal, and you put in the work between sessions. For alcohol, drugs and gambling, I only work alongside your GP or a specialist service, on stress, sleep and confidence.
If you want to see what hypnosis feels like before spending anything, there are more than 2,300 free sessions on my podcast, The Hypnotist. For the practical side of working with me, including cost and how sessions run over Zoom, see hypnotherapy for habits and addictions.
Common questions
Does hypnotherapy work for smoking?
The best review so far, from Cochrane in 2019, found no clear evidence that hypnotherapy works better than other stop smoking support, and said any benefit is small at most. Some people still find it helps with cravings and routines, but it’s best used alongside NHS stop smoking support or medicines rather than instead of them.
Does hypnosis work for weight loss?
The evidence is thin. Some studies found people lost slightly more weight when hypnosis was added to a weight programme, but a 2021 review called the evidence scarce. It may help with eating habits such as grazing or stress eating, alongside changes you make yourself, but it isn’t a weight loss treatment on its own.
What is the success rate of hypnotherapy?
There isn’t a reliable single figure, because results depend on the issue, the person and the practitioner. The ASA says success claims must rest on rigorous evidence, so be cautious about any website quoting a high percentage. I don’t publish a success rate.
Does hypnotherapy work for alcohol?
It isn’t a treatment for alcohol dependence. There is only one small trial, which can’t tell us much. If you drink heavily, speak to your GP before cutting down, because stopping suddenly can be dangerous. Hypnotherapy can help alongside that care with stress and sleep, or with cutting down a drinking routine where there’s no dependence.
Is hypnotherapy safe?
It appears to be low risk for most people. The Cochrane smoking review found very little evidence either way on side effects, and a 2018 review of sleep studies reported few adverse events. The NHS says it may not be safe if you have schizophrenia, a history of psychosis or epilepsy, and that you should tell your therapist about any medical conditions or medicines.
Ready to start?
If you’d like to talk through whether hypnotherapy is likely to help with your habit, book a £49 consultation call. I’ll give you my honest view, including if I think something else would suit you better. Sessions are one to one over Zoom, with a recording of the hypnosis afterwards. You can see sessions and prices first.
Written by Adam Cox, clinical hypnotherapist. Sources: NHS, complementary therapies; UCLH, hypnosis; Cochrane, hypnotherapy for smoking cessation, 2019; Cochrane, interventions for quitting vaping, 2025; Pellegrini and others, Current Obesity Reports, 2021; Chamine and others, Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, 2018; Lam and others, Complementary Therapies in Medicine, 2015; Shestopal and Bramness, Journal of Addiction Research and Therapy, 2018; Cochrane, psychological therapies for gambling; NICE NG248, gambling-related harms, 2025; NICE CG61, irritable bowel syndrome; NHS, skin picking disorder; NHS, insomnia; ASA, hypnotherapy; Terhune, Open Encyclopedia of Cognitive Science, 2024. Checked October 2026.