ABSTRACT
This chapter looks at the development of cognitive hypnotherapy, tracing the cognitive and behavioural roots of this little-researched therapy in the area of performance anxiety. It discusses the genesis of cognitive and behavioural therapies and the subsequent merging of these into cognitive behavioural therapy. The cognitive behavioural therapy approach for the treatment of anxiety-based conditions is discussed together with a number of issues which have been identified with this therapy. The use of hypnosis as an adjunct to therapy is discussed and a comparison is given of treatment effects when hypnosis has been integrated into therapy. This chapter argues that the addition of hypnosis to a particular therapy enhances the treatment outcome, and this was found in a number of different domains including performance. The findings show that hypnosis as an adjunct to therapy brings positive change rapidly in both cognition and physiology, impacting on subjective behaviour. However, this chapter notes that there is a paucity of research investigating the use of cognitive hypnotherapy for the alleviation of performance anxiety and that further research in the field is required.
