Hypnosis via a videolink has proved more popular than face-to-face treatment in a pilot study in Scotland.

Patients in Lerwick in the Shetlands have been able to receive the therapy via a videolink to a psychologist instead of travelling to the Aberdeen for their treatment.

The pilot study of 'telehypnosis' has been so successful that more than a third of patients said they preferred it to receiving face-to-face therapy.

Susan Simpson, a clinical psychologist at the Royal Cornhill Hospital in Aberdeen who led the study, is to present her findings to a Royal Society of Medicine conference on telemedicine in London on Tuesday.

A lot of the clients preferred telehypnosis to face-to-face therapy

Susan Simpson, Royal Cornhill Hospital

Ms Simpson told BBC News Online she believes her study was the first to evaluate the use of telehypnosis.

She said it shows how telemedicine can help patients in rural areas can benefit from hypnosis and other therapies, and said it could even be used to help patients in developing countries.

Positive feedback

The study looked at the effects of one session of telehypnosis on 11 patients who had conditions ranging from insomnia to phobias and eating disorders.

Ms Simpson said she treats about six patients a week via teleconferencing, about half of whom receive hypnosis.

She said: "One thing the study was doing was looking at whether it's possible to offer hypnosis as a treatment via teleconferencing."

As the patient sat in front of a screen in Lerwick, Ms Simpson could see them on her screen in Aberdeen.

She used the same hypnosis techniques as if the patient was in the same room - deep breathing and imaging moving down steps to a safe place where the patient feels confident and relaxed.

Confidence boost

Ms Simpson said: "After the session, they come out feeling much more confident in dealing with their problems.

"We found clients were significantly more relaxed following the sessions than before."

She said they also felt much more confident about dealing with their problems.

Ms Simpson said: "A lot of the clients preferred telehypnosis to face-to-face therapy.

"They preferred it because they feel it gives them more sense of control and more self confidence."

She added teleconferencing was a way of offering treatment to people in rural areas which they could otherwise only have if they travelled.

"That's very expensive and completely impractical".

She said: "I'm hoping that people in other psychology units will seek to expand their services and offer them to people in remote and rural areas so that people who can't access these treatments unless they're prepared to travel can access them locally."