Similarities between hypnosis and the placebo effect include
- Both affect the same clinical conditions.
- Expectancy manipulations can enhance both placebo and hypnotic responding.
- Neither requires the presence of a trance state.
- Like placebos, hypnotic inductions have no specific components.
- Suggestion is the active ingredient of both.
Although this does not make hypnosis a placebo, it does indicate that that research on the placebo effect and the therapeutic relationship can inform optimal clinical use of hypnosis.