True Tales from a Hypnotist
Recently I have had two clients who came to me to stop snacking. They had both had bariatric surgery, otherwise known as sleeve gastrectomy some years prior and had put on quite a few kilos as a result of snacking on lollies and other poor food choices. There was no hunger driving their behavior as this type of surgery also decreases the levels of the appetite stimulating hormone called ghrelin, so people feel less hungry and eat less. After two sessions of hypnosis a fortnight apart, they both reported they had not touched a lolly or reverted to snacking or indeed had any desire for snacks and sugar. So it was a wonderful result for both of them
The result seems simplistic, however there were other factors at play. Pre the hypnotic session we had to do a bit of detective work and find out the reason for the snacking behavior. We figured out with one of my clients that she was having difficulty accepting that her life was running smoothly and she was sabotaging herself with the snacking behavior. That was her “go to” strategy when her life was stressful, but now she was feeling stressed about not being stressed.
I suggested through the hypnosis that she could now enjoy her life and her achievements with her weight loss and she no longer had any need to worry, she could enjoy being happy and I took her on a journey into the future where she remained healthy, energetic and productive. If the client has a helpful suggestion that she wants me to put in the hypnosis that is very effective for her as it is her belief and desire. These clients were also highly motivated and suggestible as a result.
Conversely I have a Quit Smoking Client who has been to me twice now and is finding it extremely difficult to quit because he has been smoking 35 cigarettes a day since he was 12 and is struggling with his identity now that he is not going to be a smoker any more. All of his daily habits were tied to his smoking habit. As you can imagine smoking that many cigarettes, he was smoking every hour during the day and night. With this client what I did with his agreement and through suggestions to the subconscious mind was develop a new construct of him as a healthy person who cares about himself enough and his family to stop smoking. Through suggestion in the hypnosis, I suggest to the client that he let go of the smoking part who is not his friend and is definitely his enemy and is surely out to kill him. Since the first and second session he has only had 3 cigarettes, which is fantastic and again I build his self esteem and confidence in and out of the hypnosis to achieve the goal of quitting.. I am also supporting him by getting him to change his daily habits by engaging in pleasurable activities, using meditation videos and mindfulness and taking up new hobbies and trusting in himself that it will happen as his desire is high.
Sometimes clients especially smokers who want to quit need a multi disciplinary method and that’s ok.
