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  • What Is Hypnotherapy?What Is Hypnotherapy?
  • Does It Work for Nail Biting?Does It Work for Nail Biting?
  • How It Helps With Nail BitingHow It Helps With Nail Biting
  • Example for Nail BitingExample for Nail Biting
  • ConclusionConclusion
  • InfographicsInfographics
  • Additional ResourcesAdditional Resources

Hypnosis for Nail Biting: How It Works, Examples, & Effectiveness

Headshot Chris Lemig CHT

Author: Chris Lemig, CHT

Headshot Chris Lemig CHT

Chris Lemig CHT

Chris blends ancient wisdom with modern science in hypnotherapy, guiding clients toward healing, transformation, and personal empowerment.

See My Bio Editorial Policy
Headshot of Kristen Fuller, MD

Medical Reviewer: Kristen Fuller, MD Licensed medical reviewer

Headshot of Kristen Fuller, MD

Kristen Fuller MD

Kristen Fuller, MD is a physician with experience in adult, adolescent, and OB/GYN medicine. She has a focus on mood disorders, eating disorders, substance use disorder, and reducing the stigma associated with mental health.

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Published: August 11, 2023
  • What Is Hypnotherapy?What Is Hypnotherapy?
  • Does It Work for Nail Biting?Does It Work for Nail Biting?
  • How It Helps With Nail BitingHow It Helps With Nail Biting
  • Example for Nail BitingExample for Nail Biting
  • ConclusionConclusion
  • InfographicsInfographics
  • Additional ResourcesAdditional Resources

Hypnotherapy can be effective in treating many anxiety-related behavioral issues like nail biting. Hypnosis can help decrease the urge to nail-bite by resolving conflicts in the conscious and subconscious mind to achieve the desired change. Techniques often include pattern interruptions, anchoring, and memory regression.

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Many people with onychophagia also struggle with misdiagnosed OCD. The first step to getting help is an accurate clinical assessment and diagnosis. NOCD’s therapists will provide a comprehensive assessment of your experience. If they find that you do not meet the criteria for OCD, they will still help assist you in identifying what you may be experiencing. Get Started With A Free 15 Minute Call

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What Is Hypnotherapy?

Hypnosis, or hypnotic trance, is a state of physical and mental relaxation where the critical faculty is bypassed, opening a person to accepting positive suggestions for change. Although some people appear resistant to hypnosis, they can benefit from the process by following the therapist’s suggestions as best they can.1

Concepts of hypnotherapy include:

Physical & Mental Relaxation

The first step in achieving a hypnotic trance is to relax both physically and mentally. This is accomplished by moving through progressive attention through each body part. The therapist will guide the person with relaxing suggestions and imagery to help release tension. Once the body is relaxed, mental relaxation is more easily achieved, giving rise to feelings of ease and peacefulness.

Bypassing the Critical Faculty

The mind’s critical faculty analyzes, evaluates, and helps to make decisions. Even though it serves an essential function, it is sometimes not enough to create lasting change. In the case of someone who bites their nails, they may consciously decide to stop the habit but find themselves struggling to do so. This is because deeply ingrained habits and motivations are stored in a deeper part of the mind called the subconscious.

In the trance state, the critical faculty can be bypassed once the person is sufficiently relaxed and focused. This allows the person to connect directly with the subconscious mind and work with present powerful beliefs and motivations. A person may discover their nail biting is based on a deep need for safety. The therapist can then help the person find new, healthy solutions to meet those needs.

Hypnosis for Nail Biting: Does It Work?

People who experience mild to severe onychophagia can benefit from hypnotherapy to manage, control, and even eliminate the urge to bite their nails. Nail biting, or onychophagia, can be a temporary and relatively nondestructive behavior. However, it can also be a severe, long-term problem for some people.2 In that case, the disorder is characterized by chronic, seemingly uncontrollable nail biting that is destructive to fingernails and the surrounding tissue.

Some of the symptoms of onychophagia include:

  • Feelings of distress, unease, or tension before biting
  • Feelings of relief or even pleasure during and after biting
  • Shame, guilt, and embarrassment related to the visible physical damage to skin and nails caused by biting
  • Tissue damage to fingers, nails, and cuticles
  • Dental problems, abscesses, and infections
  • In some cases, nail biting may lead to complicated family and social relationships

How Can Hypnotherapy Help Someone With Nail Biting?

It is natural for people to experience some stress and anxiety from time to time. However, when these uncomfortable feelings result in body-focused repetitive behaviors (BFRBs) such as nail biting, hair pulling, or skin picking, a person’s quality of life can be adversely affected. With its emphasis on physical and mental relaxation, hypnotherapy can be a highly effective treatment for various BFRBs.

Hypnotherapeutic techniques for nail biting include:

Relaxation

The therapist will guide the person through progressive attention to each body part to achieve sufficient relaxation to enter the hypnotic trance state. The person can release tension and stress through mindfulness, focused awareness, and soothing suggestions. Once physical relaxation is achieved, mental relaxation comes more easily. Through this process, symptoms of stress and anxiety that can trigger the nail biting behavior are often greatly reduced.

Pattern Interruption Techniques

Specific feelings or situations often trigger nail biting and other BFRBs. By becoming aware and mindful of these triggers, a person can apply “pattern interruption” techniques. When a trigger is noticed, the person can begin a physical action, such as tapping their hand or wrist, while repeating a positive statement like, “I am feeling anxious, and I can choose to do something other than biting my nails.”

Anchoring Resource States

In the dreamlike state of hypnosis, a person imagines themselves in a situation that triggers nail biting. With the therapist’s guidance, they are instructed to imagine a new resource state, such as feeling calm or at ease. Once that state is achieved, the therapist will ask the person to “anchor” the feeling by choosing a physical gesture like making a gentle fist or rubbing their finger and thumb together. When the anchor is engaged in the future, the person can remember and experience the resource state and avoid unwanted behavior.

In addition to these techniques, many hypnotherapists will suggest various self-management tools to deal with the nail biting urge in the future. These can include instructions for self-hypnosis, deep breathing exercises, and self-guided relaxation meditations.

It should be noted that some conditions may benefit from the support of other treatments, such as cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). However, hypnosis as a complementary treatment can increase the chances for successful outcomes in behavior change.

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Nail Biting Is Often A Sign Of OCD

Many people with onychophagia also struggle with misdiagnosed OCD. The first step to getting help is an accurate clinical assessment and diagnosis. NOCD’s therapists will provide a comprehensive assessment of your experience. If they find that you do not meet the criteria for OCD, they will still help assist you in identifying what you may be experiencing. Get Started With A Free 15 Minute Call

Learn More

Example of Hypnosis for Nail Biting

Typical hypnosis treatment for nail biting will include an initial assessment, several hypnosis sessions, and follow-up support. During the initial interview, a person may be asked about their past and current experience of chronic nail biting. As this can be connected with another medical and mental health issue, a therapist will likely ask about any past or current treatments so they can coordinate with other providers as needed.

The therapist may also ask what triggers episodes of nail biting, what emotional and physical symptoms accompany the behavior, and what the client’s goals for treatment are. They may review any mental images, inner dialog, looping thoughts, and physical sensations that precede the urge to nail biting. Using this information, the person will work with the therapist to create hypnotic suggestions and a plan of treatment that best supports behavioral change.

Post Hypnotic Suggestions

While in hypnosis, a person is more amenable to accepting and implementing positive suggestions. These are most effective when delivered in the present tense. For example, “Whenever I feel the urge to bite my nails, I remember to breathe and relax.” The key to post-hypnotic suggestions is they are both believable and offer desirable alternative responses to the behavior.

Future pacing

Typically, a person experiences a problem state feeling at the mercy of whatever has triggered it. Future pacing is a technique that effectively teaches a person how to imagine and expect more desirable outcomes. While in a trance, the person will imagine themselves in a situation where they are likely to bite their nails. They will then be instructed to imagine themselves feeling safe, at ease, and in control. They may then imagine successfully resisting the urge to bite their nails and feel all the positive feelings associated with that success.

Memory Regression

Often, unwanted behaviors have their source in traumatic memories of past events.3 In hypnosis, one may revisit those memories with better resources. For example, the person who bites their nails may remember a situation they engaged in this behavior as a child. In the trance state, they can re-experience the event with the full knowledge that they are now more capable of protecting themselves as adults.

Final Thoughts

Nail biting can be a troublesome habit or compulsion, but hypnotherapy may offer an effective way to stop the behavior. Consider reaching out to a hypnotherapist or other mental health professional to address the causes behind your nail biting.

Hypnosis for Nail Biting Infographics

What Is Hypnotherapy for Nail Biting?   Anchoring for Nail Biting   Example of Hypnosis for Nail Biting

Additional Resources

To help our readers take the next step in their mental health journey, ChoosingTherapy.com has partnered with leaders in mental health and wellness. ChoosingTherapy.com is compensated for marketing by the companies included below.

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For Further Reading

The following are helpful additional resources for anyone interested in hypnosis for nail biting:

  • The American Hypnosis Association
  • How to Stop Biting Your Nails | The American Academy of Dermatology Association
  • Nail Biting Prevention and Habit Reversal Tips: How to Get Your Child to Stop | Nationwide Children’s

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Sources Update History

ChoosingTherapy.com strives to provide our readers with mental health content that is accurate and actionable. We have high standards for what can be cited within our articles. Acceptable sources include government agencies, universities and colleges, scholarly journals, industry and professional associations, and other high-integrity sources of mental health journalism. Learn more by reviewing our full editorial policy.

  • Acunzo, D. J., & Terhune, D. B. (2021). A Critical Review of Standardized Measures of Hypnotic Suggestibility. The International journal of clinical and experimental hypnosis, 69(1), 50–71. https://doi.org/10.1080/00207144.2021.1833209

  • Bohne, A., Keuthen, N., & Wilhelm, S. (2005). Pathologic hairpulling, skin picking, and nail biting. Annals of clinical psychiatry : official journal of the American Academy of Clinical Psychiatrists, 17(4), 227–232. https://doi.org/10.1080/10401230500295354

  • Lang, A. J., et al. (2003). Sexual trauma, posttraumatic stress disorder, and health behavior. Behavioral medicine (Washington, D.C.), 28(4), 150–158. https://doi.org/10.1080/08964280309596053

  • Galski T. J. (1981). The adjunctive use of hypnosis in the treatment of trichotillomania: a case report. The American journal of clinical hypnosis, 23(3), 198–201. https://doi.org/10.1080/00029157.1981.10403266

  • Bornstein, P. H., et al. (1980). Hypnobehavioral treatment of chronic nailbiting: a multiple baseline analysis. The International journal of clinical and experimental hypnosis, 28(3), 208–217. https://doi.org/10.1080/00207148008409846

  • Iglesias A. (2003). Hypnosis as a vehicle for choice and self-agency in the treatment of children with Trichotillomania. The American journal of clinical hypnosis, 46(2), 129–137. >https://doi.org/10.1080/00029157.2003.10403583

  • Torales, J., Barrios, I., & Villalba, J. (2017). Alternative Therapies for Excoriation (Skin Picking) Disorder: A Brief Update. Advances in mind-body medicine, 31(1), 10–13.

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We regularly update the articles on ChoosingTherapy.com to ensure we continue to reflect scientific consensus on the topics we cover, to incorporate new research into our articles, and to better answer our audience’s questions. When our content undergoes a significant revision, we summarize the changes that were made and the date on which they occurred. We also record the authors and medical reviewers who contributed to previous versions of the article. Read more about our editorial policies here.

August 11, 2023
Author: No Change
Reviewer: No Change
Primary Changes: Updated for readability and clarity. Reviewed and added relevant resources.
October 29, 2020
Author: Chris Lemig, CHT
Reviewer: Kristen Fuller, MD
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