Binge-Eating & Hypnosis?

Question by Mandi: Binge-eating & Hypnosis?
I recently read an article on hypnosis in a magazine and it “benefits” and it got me wondering if that would help me…

I’ve Always been overweight and an emotional eater to boot. I’ve tried diets–and gave up…tried exercise–and couldn’t follow-through. I think I have finally realized it is More than just diet and exercise, maybe something mental. I believe I have an eating disorder…and I know that I need to get help, before it is too late. :-/

I was just curious if there are any licensed/certified hypnotherapists

(or even patients who have gone through with the hypnosis–doesn’t necessarily have to be for binge-eating)

who could inform me about the process and steps leading up to, and through the entire course of “treatment.” What are the pros/cons? And would it work for me…?

Any suggestions…?

Thanks in advance!

Best answer:

Answer by Xystren
Any hypnotist that has gone through any sort of training will have has some on Weight management (now I say weight management rather than weight loss, and I will explain that later)

Since you have mentioned that you think you might have a eating disorder, that would need to be diagnosed by a licensed medial professional. Most ethical hypnotist would require a referral (unless they were licensed themselves to make that diagnosis) before working on a diagnosed condition. But I digress.

Often with things like this, there are the benefits to a particular goal (being healthier, being more fit, better self-esteem, knowing you have the skills and abilities to achieve your goals, etc.) these are the “What’s in it for me!” reasons to achieve your goal of weight management.

But there are also what is know as secondary benefits.

Secondary benefits are reasons that re-enforce a unwanted behavior. For weight management, that could be the “praise” that you received by “eating everything on your plate.” For smoking, the thought that “Smoking makes me look cool and popular.” would be an example of a secondary benefit.

A hypnotic session would help align the the benefits, and realign the secondary benefits in a way that is congruent with your goals. This could be through a typical positive suggestion session, or depending on the case, could require some of the more advanced techniques (inner conflict resolution) for others

In a case like this, for weight management, it’s really about changing the habits of “why” one eats. Typically you could probably expect 3 to 6 session. My first sessions almost always starts out with relaxation/stress management (it’s a skill that can always use improvement.) Stress causes us to do all sorts of things (ie, eat, smoke, drink, etc) so by learning how to manage stress, we have help control some of the triggers that may start an unwanted behavior. This first session let’s you get familiar with the hypnotic state, lets us discuss what is need to achieve your goals and to formulate a direction to make those goals into a reality. The other sessions are used to set the direction and re-enforce it. Often I will teach self-hypnosis so you can use that to help achieve your own goals and for your own empowerment and reenforcement.

Pros/cons: You goals need to be for the right reasons (in other words, for you). Hypnosis isn’t going to make someone do what they don’t want to do. So the wife that is making the husband go to a hypnotist so he will stop smoking cigars is not likely to be a successful case (unless he is also wanting that).

Pros: hypnosis is a natural state and has very little, if any side effects; the skills learned can be applied to various parts of your life; it doesn’t have the negative health/side effects that all medications/surgery has.

Cons: none really; hypnosis isn’t going to “make you” change your ways, if you don’t want to. This is where you get into the people that say “it doesn’t work.”; cost, as with anything there will likely be a charge for the session. Some hypnotist take insurance if your company covers it)

You sound motivated so that is a good thing. Asking questions like you have seems to show that your reasons are for you. It seems like you would be successful using hypnosis in your goals.

Hope it helps, my email is on the profile if you have further questions or require clarification.

Cheers,

PS: I promised I would explain why I use weight management, over weight loss.

There is something that we are taught to do when we lose something, and that is to find it again. We learn this right from a very early age. So when it comes down to loosing weight, do we really want to loose weight? We don’t want that subconscious response to be “find the lost item.” Can you say roller coaster? Notice how all the advertising refers to it as weight loss products and not weight management? They want us to find it again. It keeps them in business.

Weight Management is not about losing weight, but about choosing a desired weight (managing it.) When you manage something it becomes an active process. On a subconscious level, when you cut something through a management process, there isn’t that need to “find it again.” Much the same way when someone says “Cut your losses and move on.” There isn’t that subconscious desire to find them again.

Just the way that we think about thing can make a huge difference in how we perceive things. Change your thoughts from losing weight, to managing weight and in a very short time you will notice a difference.

Know better? Leave your own answer in the comments!

 

 

 

Stop Binge Eating using Secret Diet – Visit HowToStopEating.com for FREE video course on how to stop binge eating and start losing weight. On the site you’ll find a box asking for your name and email address, once you submit them, you’ll get my complete free video course in your email. Dieting is the wrong way to stop binge eating. If you are dieting then chances are you’ll always keep dieting and failing. Dieting is when you forbid yourself from having a certain group of foods. When you tell yourself that you won’t have any junk foods then sooner or later you’ll have a junk food. It might be in a moment of weakness or maybe you come home stressed from a long day at work or school and grab a comfort food or a junk food. Now that you “broke your diet” you’ll feel very guilty, hopeless and disappointed at yourself. You might keep eating the junk food, thinking what’s the point to stop if I’ve already fallen off track? You might even give up on binge eating treatment or trying to lose weight. Dieting is a bad way to stop binge eating and it doesn’t work. Instead you need to work on eating a good balance of junk foods and healthy foods. This balance is more realistic and it’s something you truly can maintain for a lifetime, not just another temporary diet. While dieting helps you lose weight it doesn’t help you keep them off. Because you can’t diet forever. A great way to stop binge eating is to ask “am I hungry?” as …

 

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