The present study examined the effectiveness of a hypnotherapeutic treatment programme for patients suffering from recurrent orofacial herpes infections. Twenty-one patients were randomly allocated to either an experimental group (n=10) or a control condition (n=11). During five weekly individual therapy sessions the participants received symptom-oriented treatment. In addition, they learnt how to improve their stress-coping skills and their management of aversive emotions. The final assessment took place 6 months after treatment. Besides documentation of the frequency and intensity of symptoms, questionnaires were administered to assess stress-coping mechanisms (SVF), skin disease-related subjective strain (MHF) and perceptions of control. A significant reduction in disease intensity could be confirmed. Individual scales of the SVF and MHF also revealed significant results.