Yes, and this is one of the better-evidenced areas in the field. Pain signals are not simply transmitted from injury to brain. They are modulated by attention, expectation, and emotional state at multiple points along the way. This is not a controversial claim. It is the gate control theory of pain, established by Melzack and Wall, and it is the neurological basis for why psychological interventions can produce real changes in pain experience.
Neuroscientist David Spiegel at Stanford has shown using fMRI that the brain processes pain signals measurably differently during hypnosis. For fibromyalgia, chronic headaches, and pain associated with IBS, hypnotherapy produces documented improvements. The trance state reduces the attentional and emotional amplification of pain signals, which for people in chronic pain cycles can be significant.
My approach to chronic pain at my Edinburgh hypnotherapy practice draws directly on my neuropsychology background from the University of Edinburgh. Understanding the mechanisms behind pain modulation changes the quality of the intervention. I am not the sole clinician for serious pain conditions, and I am clear about that from the first consultation. As part of a wider pain management approach, the clinical hypnotherapy I offer in Edinburgh is grounded in how the brain actually processes pain, not in suggestion alone.