Efficacy of Hypnosis in Sport Psychology: a systematic review

Abstract

Hypnosis is a technique that has a multitude of scientific evidence in favor of its efficacy as an adjuvant technique in the treatment of different disorders -medical or psychological nature- in children and adults, and more specifically, also in the field of sport psychology, although this evidence has not always been accompanied by rigorous methodological procedures. For this reason, this study presents a systematic review on the efficacy of hypnosis in sport and exercise, describing the results of this technique on performance in athletes and physical activity practitioners, and exploring the statistical power of the set of studies. A total of 45 studies were included, most of which revealed the positive effects of the use of hypnosis compared to other techniques used. With respect to the methodological criteria, most of the studies met the established criteria, with the exception of the assessment of hypnotic suggestibility and the measurement of effect size, both of which are of utmost importance. These results highlight the importance of continuing to contribute to the development of hypnosis in the discipline, given the positive effects and advantages that hypnosis can have.