Recent Articles of Interest

Hypnosis, because of TV shows and the movies, the very word conjures up the picture of a beady-eyed hypnotherapist swinging his pocket watch and chanting, "You are getting sleepy."

Use any search engine and you will find several million web pages devoted to the topic. Unfortunately, many websites that sell self-hypnosis CD's make wild, unsubstantiated claims. I've been a hypnotherapist since 1978. So I think that I'm more than expert enough to set the record straight on weight loss hypnosis.

First of all, post-hypnotic suggestion is a tool, just like a scalpel is a tool. Just as different surgeons have varying levels of skill in the use of a scalpel, different hypnotists have varying levels of skill in the use of post-hypnotic suggestion. And to complicate the matter, there are many different types of post-hypnotic suggestion.

Listen to a couple of the ridiculous assertions about weight loss hypnosis that I've seen on the Internet, along with the the real story:

"Hypnotic suggestion will speed up your metabolism." If you want a dose of reality, the fact of the matter is that post-hypnotic suggestion won't directly speed up your metabolism. But it can be very effective at helping to re-program your unconscious with increased motivation to exercise. And exercise can dramatically increase your metabolic rate. Similarly, post-hypnotic suggestion to speed up the metabolism for quick weight loss can be effected by re-programming the unconscious to motivate the intake of increased amounts of protein, because that intake will step up your metabolic rate.

"Hypnotic suggestion will make you get rid of your excess weight." This is false. But post-hypnotic suggestion can be used to help case out your appetite, so that you eat less. And eating less can help you to get rid of your excess weight. The average person's appetite and cravings for food and compulsion to eat are caused by two subconscious programs:

A. When you combine eating with any other behavior, the other behavior will trigger cravings for food and a strong desire to eat. This is called a conditioned response. For example, if you eat when you talk on the phone, you will get an urge to eat every time you talk on the telephone.

B. When you feel stressed, you feel an urge to put something into your mouth for relaxation and pleasure. This is the result of training that you received as an infant. When you got crabby, your mom put a bottle in your mouth. You got distracted, relaxed, and probably fell asleep. Now when you get cranky (anxious or tense), you feel compelled to put something into your mouth for relaxation and pleasure.

C. There is a third unconscious program that is present for some people. It's called emotional eating. Emotional eating takes place when a person is motivated to make him or herself fat, because by being fat they will protect themselves in some way. For example, if a person gets their heart broken in a relationship, their unconscious might motivate them into a behavior that can prevent them from getting their heart broken again. Example: They are motivated to get fat to keep them out of another relationship, because that will eliminate the possibility of another broken heart.

So just how can hypnosis for losing weight fix the above problems? Click here to read the remainder of this weight loss hypnosis article.

I've written several articles on this complex topic that available on my website. These articles illustrate some powerful and effective ways to use hypnosis for emotional eating.