Does hypnotherapy actually work, or is it placebo?

The honest answer is that it depends on the condition and on the practitioner. For anxiety, phobias, IBS, smoking cessation, and chronic pain, there is peer-reviewed evidence showing effects that exceed placebo. A 2003 study in the American Journal of Gastroenterology found that gut-directed hypnotherapy produced significant symptom improvement in 71% of IBS patients, with improvement maintained at five-year follow-up. Where hypnotherapy is oversold is in generic confidence programs and vague wellness applications, where the mechanisms are loose and the evidence thinner. My training in cognitive neuropsychology at the University of Edinburgh means I work only in areas where I can explain the mechanism. If the evidence is thin, I say so. That is not how most hypnotherapists in Edinburgh operate, and I think it matters.