are there any drawbacks to hypnotherapy?

Hypnosis is not effective to the same degree in everyone; some people are simply not very susceptible to hypnotic suggestion.

Some therapists have used techniques with people to recover lost memories. If the hypnotised subject believes that forgotten material ought to be recoverable, there is a tendency for memories of similar events, and creative fantasy material, to take the place of true memory. This distorted version of events is then believed as though it actually occurred and is known as false memory. Actively encouraging clients to produce specific memories, particularly of sexual abuse as children, is an extremely controversial procedure, which has been condemned by the majority of hypnotherapists as being dangerous.

Mind believes that there are worrying consequences of exaggerated accounts of the prevalence of false memory: it can divert attention from the huge prevalence of child sexual abuse, which leads many people to experience mental health problems as children and in later life. Some reports of false memory suggest the person is inventing a memory of abuse because they are 'disturbed' or 'mentally ill', which implies that someone who does have mental health problems cannot have been abused and cannot be believed. The reality is that, all too often, abuse has contributed to their mental health problems. Assuming false memory in these cases damages a person's credibility and risks denying them any access to justice and a resolution to their problems: they will not be believed because they have a diagnosis of mental illness and their testimony may be discounted both in official quarters and by friends and relatives.back