A few years ago, a rather overweight lady came up to me after I finished a hypnosis demonstration. With arms folded, she said to me, "I want you to hypnotize me to lose weight but I don't want to change the way I eat and I don't want to exercise." I said to her, "Lady, I can hypnotize you to think you're thin, but the only way to lose weight is through better diet and exercise."I have been practicing hypnotherapy for over 15 years and have attended several schools of hypnosis. Though I've learned from each school and from countless lectures and therapy sessions, I can tell you that in general, a therapist practicing hypnosis will usually use a particular method of hypnosis that they are comfortable with and discount the others either because they are not aware of other methods or they were 'taught' that one method is best. In reality, there are many ways to hypnotize for successful weight loss and it's best for a hypnotist or hypnotherapist to use a method that matches the subject being hypnotized.I can tell you from experience that one session is almost never enough if the goal is permanent weight loss. On the other hand, it is not uncommon to need only three sessions. Why not just one? Why might three be enough? To answer this question, you need to understand the two types of hypnotherapy: Direct Suggestion and Regression to Cause.With direct suggestion (used by the vast majority of those that use hypnosis in their practice), the subject is hypnotized and given suggestions to crave healthy foods, eat in proper amounts, detest unhealthy foods, exercise regularly, etc. In the short term, this can be highly effective. But often these suggestions can wear off. One session is not enough. With regression to cause, the subject is hypnotized to the point where the subconscious mind can reveal the real issues causing a person to overeat. The trained hypnotherapist can then help the subject come to terms with the issue(s) and... permanent weight loss can be the result. A combination of direct suggestion and regression to cause can achieve permanent results in as little as three sessions!Additionally, most hypnotists were trained in a long process of getting someone hypnotized (it's called progressive relaxation and unfortunately it is still the dominant method taught). There are much better, efficient methods of induction (getting a person hypnotized) that can be done in a few short minutes (and sometimes even seconds)!But the bottom line is this. If a person chooses a highly qualified hypnotist or hypnotherapist, it is indeed possible (and probable) for a person to lose weight without feeling deprived. They can embark on a new life of eating healthy, exercising regularly and enjoying the new lifestyle on their way to obtaining and maintaining great health!
