**4. The use of hypnosis/hypnotherapy as complementary or alternative approach to the modern day orthodox medicine**

In the late 1700s when effective pharmaceutical and surgical treatment options were limited, hypnosis became a popular approach for the treatment of medical conditions [6]. As alternative treatments for medical conditions become popular, contemporary medicine is being challenged to take a more integrative approach. Hypnosis is used for conditions such as anxiety, depression, phobias, and attention deficit disorders not believed to be primarily psychological although the potential for a psychological basis exists for many of the mentioned conditions [6].

Hypnosis has been used effectively in a variety of medical settings such as chronic pain management, labor, surgery, dentistry, etc. Several studies reported its efficacy in the treatment of anxiety disorders [28–31].

For a variety of problems, hypnosis has been used as an adjunct to cognitive behavior therapy. Cognitive behavior therapy combined with hypnosis has been employed in the treatment of anxiety disorders, pain, depression, smoking cessation, obesity, and hypertension [6, 32].

The American Medical Association in 1958 and the American Psychological Association in 1960 approved the use of hypnosis as an adjunct treatment; in a variety of psychological and physical conditions, its efficacy has been established [33]. Mostly, contemporary applications of clinical hypnosis could be in four major areas viz.: behavioral, pshychological, medical, and self-development. The contemporary medical applications of hypnosis include medicine, surgery, and dentistry, the uses of which affect the somatic and behavioral aspects of the illness [34].

Although the traditional hypnotic approach is used for treating anxiety, depression, phobias, and attention deficit disorders, numerously, the modern or conventional approaches are employed in clinical hypnosis as either adjunct, complementary, or alternative therapy in present day orthodox medicine.
