Hypnotherapy, NLP and CBT: How They Differ

Someone asked whether hypnotherapy, NLP and CBT are all the same thing, since the names appear together so often.

All three are discussed in similar contexts, and in practice they are sometimes used together. But each has a different origin, a different mechanism, and a markedly different level of scientific evidence behind it.

What CBT is

Cognitive behavioral therapy, or CBT, is an approach centered on the relationship between thought, emotion and behavior. The principle is that distorted or unreasonable thinking leads to negative emotion, and negative emotion to unhelpful behavior. CBT works by helping a person notice and adjust those distorted patterns, in a structured, stepwise way.

What distinguishes CBT from the other two is that it works chiefly at the conscious level. It relies on observing, analyzing and adjusting thought reasonably and deliberately, aware throughout. Hypnotherapy and NLP both address processes outside deliberate awareness — at a subconscious level, and by different means.

What hypnotherapy is

Hypnotherapy’s roots reach back to the late eighteenth century, developing seriously as a psychological discipline through the nineteenth. At its heart is bringing the brain into deep relaxation, or trance, where the conscious mind softens and the brain enters a state that favors learning new patterns.

Unlike CBT, which works mainly at the level of conscious thought, hypnotherapy reaches the subconscious through a state different from ordinary alertness.

What NLP is

NLP, or neuro-linguistic programming, was developed in the 1970s by Richard Bandler and John Grinder, through observing how several highly effective therapists worked. Besides Milton Erickson, the influential hypnotherapist, its founders studied practitioners such as Virginia Satir and Fritz Perls before building their own model.

At its heart NLP studies the relationship between neurological process, the language used, and the behavior that follows. Although NLP addresses processes that happen automatically and outside conscious awareness, its techniques generally do not require bringing a person into the deep trance used in hypnotherapy.

And one point must be made plainly: the level of scientific evidence behind these three differs considerably.

So which is better?

In practice, many practitioners use NLP for work with mental frames, communication and goal-setting; hypnotherapy where the work involves automatic or deeply settled patterns of response; and CBT as the principal approach for adjusting distorted thinking in a structured, systematic way.

In many cases, hypnotherapy used with CBT produces better outcomes than either alone, because they work at different levels — CBT adjusting thought where it is conscious, hypnotherapy reaching patterns settled deeper than ordinary thinking.

No approach suits every person or every difficulty. What matters most is choosing an evidence-supported approach appropriate to what you are facing, and working with someone honest about the limits of each.

To understand how hypnotherapy works in the brain, see “How Hypnotherapy Works in the Brain”. And for what the research says about its effectiveness, “From Belief to Evidence: The Research on Hypnotherapy” makes it clearer.