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This blog seems to be the origin of a quote that has been widely copy-pasted by many hypnotherapists:

American Health Magazine reported the following findings from a recent study.

• Psychoanalysis: 38% recovery after 600 sessions

• Behavior Therapy: 72% recovery after 22 sessions

• Hypnotherapy: 93% recovery after 6 sessions

(As far as I can tell, American Health shut down in 2000, so it wouldn't have been that recent...)

Recovery from what is not stated, and searching elsewhere reveals at best only a small (often insignificant) improvement using hypnosis versus more conventional treatment. What are the origins of this claim?

Ken Y-N
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    Some websites cite the source: Barrios, Alfred A. “Hypnotherapy: A Reappraisal,” Psychotherapy: Theory, Research and Practice (1970). 1970! – ff524 Sep 26 '17 at 01:35
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    The studies that those numbers come from reflect papers published in the 1960s or 1950s. So it doesn't doesn't reflect current psychoanalysis, behavior therapy, and hypnotherapy. The studies also don't reflect current practice for rigorous psychology research. And the way the numbers are combined to get those % values certainly does not reflect current scientific practice. (They combine "recovery" numbers from patients with different conditions, with different criteria for what constitutes "recovery".) – ff524 Sep 26 '17 at 01:59
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    And that was summarising research from 1964! – Ken Y-N Sep 26 '17 at 02:14
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    I don't even understand the claim. Recovery from what? – Oddthinking Sep 26 '17 at 05:34
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    @Oddthinking I think that's part of the question... which seems like it makes this a bit off-topic somehow. – Ben Barden Sep 26 '17 at 13:30
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    @BenBarden: You are right. The claim seems meaningless. How are people interpreting the claim? Maybe we can find someone drawing a conclusion and challenging that. Asking for the *origins* of the claim seems off-topic - more like etymology than anything else. – Oddthinking Sep 26 '17 at 14:21
  • Here's a link where you can see the source text directly where the claim was made (and yes, from 1970): https://www.stopithypnosis.com/scholar-evidence-hypnosis – Joshua M Dec 06 '22 at 20:32

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