Psychiatrists, dentists, clergymen and many others employ hypnotism at times. It has been lauded as an aid in such endeavors as curing psychosomatic disorders, easing childbirth and breaking the habit of using hallucinogenic drugs. A cleric wrote: “As a clergyman, pastoral counselor and a practicing hypnotist of several years’ experience, I do not know of any person who has been harmed in any way through the use of hypnosis. . . . Among the various phenomena utilized by man for his good, hypnosis is certainly the safest.”

Some clergymen resort to hypnotism when counseling their parishioners, but in doing this they are not imitating Jesus Christ. The Bible is the God-approved source of needed counsel on life’s problems. (2 Tim. 3:16, 17) God’s holy spirit, not hypnotherapy, is the divine provision to help persons to replace moral uncleanness, idolatry and other ungodly traits with love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faith, mildness and self-control. (Col. 3:5-11; Gal. 5:22, 23) Furthermore, Jehovah, not some hypnotist, provides the strength that Christians need to cope with hardships.​—Phil. 4:6, 7, 13.