Clinical Hypnosis and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Hot Flashes: A Scoping Review

Hot flashes can be a prevalent issue for postmenopausal women, but traditional treatments such as hormone therapy can have adverse side effects. Recommended psychotherapies for managing hot flashes include cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and clinical hypnosis, but an in-depth review comparing the efficacy of both treatments is warranted.

The aim of the present scoping review was to assess the clinical significance and efficacy of symptom reduction of CBT and clinical hypnosis as treatments of hot flashes.

Peer-reviewed primary studies were included in this review if they were published in English, used CBT or clinical hypnosis as their intervention, included hot flash outcomes, and sampled women aged 18 years or older.

A search was conducted on PubMed, Web of Science, and PsycINFO over December 2023 and January 2024.

Extracted information included eligible studies' authors, year of publication, country, title, design, participant population, intervention type, control group, primary and secondary outcomes, and key findings.

Of the 1847 studies identified by the literature search, 23 studies were included in this scoping review. While CBT was found to benefit bother and daily interference related to hot flashes, only studies investigating clinical hypnosis found significant reductions in the frequency and severity of hot flashes.

Clinical hypnosis was found to outperform CBT by a large effect in treatment for hot flashes based on the current state of the literature. While both modalities treat psychological distress, only clinical hypnosis demonstrates the ability to reduce the severity and frequency of hot flashes, thus showing clinical significance. Limitations and future directions for research into CBT and clinical hypnosis for hot flashes are discussed.