Research

Working in partnership with leading experts, our digital hypnotherapy programs are grounded in rigorous research that drives our mission to fuel the transformation of health and well-being.
Our research partners

Research outcomes

Built on clinical evidence, our digital hypnotherapy programs leverage research to offer patients essential support and tools that promote transformative, lasting change.

Irritable Bowel Syndrome

81%
Of the 71% of patients who responded to hypnotherapy, 81% maintained their changes over time.

Smoking cessation

72%
72% of Finito users report stopping or reducing their smoking after completing the program.

Hot flashes

70-80%
Clinical trials have shown that hypnotherapy can help reduce hot flashes by 70-80%.

Research studies

Our hypnotherapy programs were all developed from these studies in IBS, menopause, smoking cessation, and mental health.
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Nerva
Chronic pain
Hot flashes
Menopause
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Retrospective
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Comparison of Digitally Delivered Gut-Directed Hypnotherapy Program With an Active Control for Irritable Bowel Syndrome

Anderson, Ellen J.; Peters, Simone L.; Gibson, Peter R. ; Halmos, Emma P.
IBS
Low FODMAP
Hypnotherapy
Gut-directed hypnotherapy
Nerva
  • Pain management: Of the participants receiving the app-based GDH 71% had a clinically significant decrease in abdominal pain compared to 35% receiving the active control.
  • Symptom severity: Of the participants receiving the app-based GDH, 81% had an improvement (≥50 points) in IBS Symptom Severity Scale (IBS-SSS) scores compared to 63% receiving the active control.
  • Quality of life and mental health: Of the participants receiving app-based GDH, 28% reported an increase in quality of life and a 37.5% decrease in anxiety.
Read the full study

Smartphone app-delivered gut-directed hypnotherapy improves symptoms of self-reported irritable bowel syndrome: A retrospective evaluation

Simone L. Peters, Peter R. Gibson, Emma P. Halmos
Retrospective
IBS
Hypnotherapy
App delivered
Gut-directed hypnotherapy
  • Completion of gut-directed hypnotherapy via an app-delivered program appears to have a response rate similar to that reported for face-to-face therapy without apparent adverse effects.
Read the full study

Hypnosis Enhances the Effects of Pain Education in Patients With Chronic Nonspecific Low Back Pain: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Rodrigo R N Rizzo, Flavia C Medeiros, Leandro G Pires, Rafael M Pimenta, James H McAuley, Mark P Jensen, Leonardo O P Costa
App delivered
RCT
Chronic pain
  • This study found that pairing clinical hypnosis with pain education doubled the number of people reporting reduced pain and improved function.
  • The Relio program is based on this protocol and was developed alongside the lead researchers on this trial from Neuroscience Research Australia.
Read the full study

Hypnosis and the alleviation of clinical pain: A comprehensive meta-analysis

Leonard S Milling, Keara E Valentine, Lindsey M LoStimolo, Alyssa M Nett, Hannah S McCarley
Hypnotherapy
Chronic pain
  • This study reviewed 42 research trials focused on alleviation of clinical pain using hypnosis.
  • When analysing 19 trials with the most robust methodology, an average pain reduction of 79% was seen in clinical hypnosis interventions when compared to control interventions.
  • The Relio program uses a combination of clinical hypnosis and pain science education to help patients better manage chronic low back pain.
Read the full study

Nerva, a mobile application of gut-directed hypnotherapy for irritable bowel syndrome: User characteristics, patterns of use, and predictors of persistence

Lauren Simicich, Vanessa Muniz, Katherine Scheffrahn & Gary Elkins
Gut-directed hypnotherapy
IBS
Hypnotherapy
  • The characteristics of the Nerva app users largely mirror previously documented demographic and clinical characteristics of individuals with IBS in the wider literature.
  • Study found promising adherence rates for the Nerva app program within the six program.
Read the full study

Characteristics of Users of a Digital Hypnotherapy Intervention for Hot Flashes: Retrospective Study

Morgan Snyder, Gary R. Elkins
Hot flashes
Menopause
  • This was the first study to report on the characteristics of users of the Evia app, which delivers hypnotherapy for hot flashes.
Read the full study

App-delivered gut-directed hypnotherapy halves the longterm costs associated with managing Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) symptoms and improves work productivity

Simone L. Peters, Peter R. Gibson, Emma P. Halmos
IBS
Gut-directed hypnotherapy
Hypnotherapy
  • Money spent on managing IBS symptoms reduced significantly for Nerva app users after the 6 week program and remained stable at 6-months.
  • Nerva users reported significant long-term improvements in absenteeism, presenteeism, work productivity loss and impairment in preforming daily activities post program completion.
Read the full study

Self-hypnosis for sleep disturbances in menopausal women

Julie L Otte, Janet S Carpenter, Lynae Roberts, Gary R Elkins
Hypnotherapy
Menopause
  • There was a significant reduction of poor sleep quality in all groups with a significant increase in minutes slept in all groups. The majority of women also showed clinical improvements in duration.
  • There were clinically meaningful improvements in reducing the perception of poor sleep quality in 50-77% of women across time. Overall, the use of self-hypnosis as a treatment program for sleep problems related to menopause was acceptable for women.
Read the full study

Clinical hypnosis in the treatment of postmenopausal hot flashes: A randomized controlled trial

Gary R Elkins, William I Fisher, Aimee K Johnson, Janet S Carpenter, Timothy Z Keith
RCT
Hypnotherapy
Menopause
Hot flashes
  • Compared with structured-attention control, clinical hypnosis results in significant reductions in self-reported and physiologically measured hot flashes and hot flash scores in postmenopausal women.
Read the full study

App-delivered gut-directed hypnotherapy program Nerva improves symptoms in patients with irritable bowel syndrome but how can we ensure users are compliant?

Simone L. Peters, Peter R. Gibson, Emma P. Halmos
IBS
Hypnotherapy
App delivered
Gut-directed hypnotherapy
  • App-delivered gut-directed hypnotherapy improves overall and individual gastrointestinal symptoms.
  • Users who complete the program report greater improvement in psychological outcomes.
  • Healthcare practitioner referral is a positive predictor of program completion, but it does not alter rates of efficacy.
Read the full study

Mobile app-delivered gut-directed hypnotherapy significantly improves symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome. Is this the way of the future?

Simone L. Peters, Peter R. Gibson, Emma P. Halmos
IBS
Hypnotherapy
App delivered
Gut-directed hypnotherapy
  • Mobile app-delivered gut-directed hypnotherapy significantly improved overall and specific symptoms of IBS similar to rates seen in face-to-face trials.
  • IBS patients who respond poorly to medications may respond better.
  • Mobile app-delivered gut-directed hypnotherapy may provide a cost-effective and accessible alternative to otherwise expensive treatment and enable the widespread use of the treatment, despite limited numbers of trained professionals.
Read the full abstract

Randomised clinical trial: The efficacy of gut-directed hypnotherapy is similar to that of the low FODMAP diet for the treatment of irritable bowel syndrome

S. L. Peters, C. K. Yao, H. Philpott, G. W. Yelland, J. G. Muir, P. R. Gibson
RCT
IBS
Low FODMAP
Hypnotherapy
Gut-directed hypnotherapy
  • Durable effects of gut-directed hypnotherapy are similar to those of the low FODMAP diet for relief of gastrointestinal symptoms.
  • Hypnotherapy has superior efficacy to the diet on psychological indices.
Read the full study
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Scientific Advisory Board

Dr. Michael Yapko

Award winning psychologist, author and clinical hypnosis expert.

Dr. Simone Peters

Psychophysiologist & Gut-Directed Hypnotherapist at Monash University

Dr. Gary Elkins

Professor, Psychology and Neuroscience at Baylor University.

Dr. Jeffrey Feldman

Clinical Health Psychologist, Associate Professor, Department of Neurology

Submit a research proposal

We’re looking for research collaborators who are interested in topics such as IBS, smoking cessation, menopause, chronic pain, sleep, and more.
Submit your research proposal here.
Hypnotherapy

Nerva

Irritable bowel syndrome

Claria

Mental health

Relio

Chronic back pain

Evia

Menopause & hot flashes

Finito

Smoking cessation
Platform

Clinicians

Patient management & clinician education

Matter

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*Disclaimer: Nerva, Evia, Finito, Claria & Relio are self-management & well-being tools designed to help people live well with and self-manage medically-diagnosed irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), menopause, smoking habits, mental health concerns and chronic low-back pain. Nerva, Evia, Finito, Claria & Relio have not been cleared or approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), or Therapeutic Goods Administration or equivalent. Users are directed to not make any changes to their prescribed medication or other type of medical treatment without seeking professional medical advice.