Explanations for hypnotherapy for eating disorders can typically be found in online search, looking for topics such as gastric band hypnosis or reasons to use weight loss hypnotherapy. You can also search for hypnotherapy for treating bulimia, anorexia or for treating binge eating disorders.

An easy way to explain what the treatment is would be to say it is a way for a trained practitioner of hypnotherapy to use hypnotic or subliminal suggestion to help patients overcome addiction or fear without the use of conventional medicine.

How does hypnotherapy for eating disorders work?

That’s a question asked time and time again, and with good reason. With hypnotherapy often viewed as something to have fun with by television personalities, the public mistake this as a trick, rather than an accepted form of complimentary therapy.

However, whilst hypnotherapy isn’t endorsed by the NHS, you can find narrative on their website and suggestions of when this form of therapy can be useful. This is openly discussed under losing weight and quitting smoking and refers to the 2009 Cochrane report on Psychological Interventions for Overweight or Obesity.

Hypnotherapy for eating disorders works by promoting an overall change in mindset that includes a motivation for regular physical exercise. It motivates you to feel good about eating less, replaces the old cycle of thinking and behaviour, with a new confident “can do” attitude and fundamentally changes your mindset towards food.

What are eating disorders?

Whilst we all need food to survive, grow and maintain our health. It is often our lack of understanding or simply a development of unusual eating habits that affect our relationships with food.

Some of us develop emotional relationships with food, generically referred to as “disordered eating” sometimes referred to as comfort eating or binge eating as well as clinical terms such as anorexia and bulimia.

These are often tied to other emotional and mental health issues like depression, anxiety and low self-esteem.

Eating disorders are a range of mental health conditions that see sufferers build unusual habits with food. As well as the psychological issues, you have the physical effects which are not only extreme weight loss or weight gain, but also the effects that extreme losses and gains in weight have on our internal organs like our hearts and liver. Quite often these seemingly simple “unhealthy choices” can have devastating effects on the body.

How are eating disorders caused?

It’s very difficult to pigeonhole an individual or a group of people and say that anyone trigger starts a food based relationship. But there is always a trigger, typically an emotional one.

However, the hypnotherapy directory lists a number of causes:

• Having a family history of eating disorders or depression.
• Having someone criticize your eating habits or your weight.
• Feeling pressure to stay slim for work or a hobby.
• Having certain characteristics, such as an obsessive personality or a tendency to be anxious.
• Experiencing upsetting events, such as a death or abuse.
• Relationship difficulties with friends or family members.
• Being under a lot of stress, for example at school or university.

Can hypnotherapy cure bulimia or anorexia or binge eating disorder?

Hypnotherapists shouldn’t claim to cure eating disorders, such as bulimia anorexia or binge eating disorder because hypnotherapy has different results within different recipients of the treatment. So as part of a multi-pronged treatment which should include counselling (and often hypnotherapists are cross trained) we often see extremely good results.

Please be aware, it is sometimes noted that further treatments are required several months or years down the line, again depending on the person receiving the treatment.

When a clinical eating disorder has been diagnosed, treatment can begin. For those reading this article, you will often see the signs of anorexia or bulimia in a family member or a friend long before they will accept that they have a problem. It is up to you to encourage them to talk about their eating and seek professional help, their failure to understand their issues will make it difficult for them to seek help independently.

The difficult thing with helping a patient suffering from an eating disorder is that treatment can often swing backwards as well as go forwards as the patient unwinds back towards dealing with the trigger event. But early treatment gives someone the best opportunity to recover.

As mentioned earlier, a multi-pronged approach is often best used when treating eating disorders, and we list some services below:

• Cognitive behavioural therapy – A form of psychological therapy that aims to change the way you think and behave.
• Interpersonal therapy – A talk therapy that focuses on relationship-based concerns.
• Family therapy – Eating disorders affect more than just the sufferer. Family therapy may be advised to help all members deal with the condition.
• Medication – Some sufferers will be prescribed antidepressants to help regulate mood.

Hypnotherapy practice for eating disorders

A hypnotherapist must understand the root causes of the issues behind the eating disorder and often uses regression techniques to discover these. The therapist will use relaxation techniques to access your subconscious to reveal the trigger event, comment or situation that may have contributed to the development of the disorder.

The goal of this is to use the power of suggestion to change thought processes and then habits around the eating disorder to facilitate a change in daily routine and the food relationship.

By using positive suggestion whilst you are “under” hypnosis, a trained practitioner can change the way you feel about yourself (self-esteem) as learning to feel good about and appreciate yourself is a massive part of recovery. Couple that with a new understanding of food and changing that relationship, hypnotherapy for eating disorders provides the mental support a person needs to fight back and avoid relapsing.

Do you want to lose weight?

Thousands of people are feeling just like you do right now. Christmas has been and gone, the festivities have brought a few extra pounds and the drinking sessions seem to have continued from there.

But deep down, you know you’re not really happy with what’s going on and you want to change.

Maybe diets haven’t worked for you so far, but you’re willing to try something that will give you the positive edge you need to control the cravings you have around food.

If hypnotherapy is something that you are prepared to try, why don’t you download my free e-book on why dieting alone won’t provide the results you’ve been seeking.

Understand why Diets alone don’t maintain Weight Loss Success

Download our guide on why diets alone fail to maintain success!

Hypnotherapy supports your diet by:

• Planting subconscious suggestion
• Removing the need to cheat
• Learn why dieting doesn’t change your    habits

Hypnosis has proven results in aiding weight loss.

Many people have to understand that a bad or unhealthy diet usually comes from years of habitual training of your food consumption.

Working late, lack of access to healthy, suitable alternatives, lifestyle and a lack of understanding of what’s good and what isn’t contribute.

City Hypnosis guide to why diets fail will help you understand these issues.

Are you filled with anxiety or fear? Do you find yourself prone to emotional eating or using ‘life crutches’ such as smoking, drinking or recreational drugs to cope with the daily stresses of life?

The answer to tackling these problems could lie, not with willpower alone, but with hypnotherapy.

If we look at the psychology behind hypnosis, we see that there’s the conscious mind and then there’s the subconscious mind.

Hypnotherapy focuses on reprogramming the subconscious mind in order to overcome or control habits that are stopping you from leading a happy and fulfilled life.

Hypnotherapist Aaron Surtees is only too aware of the power of hypnotherapy to enable clients to master their lives.

Mr Surtees has treated celebrities, including Charlie Brooker and Ant McPartlin, at his London-based practice.

Here, in his latest blog, Mr Surtees reveals the top five life problems people seek his help for and why hypnotherapy is the best form of treatment to overcome these issues to lead a happy and fulfilled life.

Why are anxiety, weight gain, smoking, lack of confidence and excessive drinking the top five most common problems people seek help for?

Aaron explains: ‘’Anxiety or social phobia, problems with over-eating, lack of confidence, inability to stop smoking and excessive drinking are so common because of the triggers they cause in the brain’’.

‘’They are issues that are connected to the reward centre of the brain and to the part of the mind that relates to emotions. These issues are very much problems related to the world in which we live in today’’.

‘’We no longer live in the caveman era where we lived in fear because our daily existence was literally a fight for survival’’.

‘’Now that fear has turned into anxiety in the modern world and has been caused by the hyper-connected world we live in. Human beings feel they are in constant competition whether in the workplace for jobs or with friends and peers when it comes to living ‘our best lives’’.

‘’It’s this pressure that causes anxiety or lack of confidence and this then leads to people emotional eating, smoking or drinking to relieve the stress. These activities cause a dopamine hit in the brain which releases feel-good emotions and they then become unhealthy coping mechanisms. It then becomes a vicious cycle and eventually a habit that is hard to break.’’

Why is hypnotherapy the best treatment for these problems?  

Said Aaron: ‘’Hypnotherapy is quick acting and can yield positive changes that will last long term.’’

‘’Hypnosis is safe and effective and has been scientifically proven to improve health and well-being. Hypnosis and hypnotherapy are known to achieve success at diminishing negative habits after just a few sessions.’’

‘’Hypnosis relates not to the conscious mind but to the subconscious mind. The subconscious mind relates to the part which can be reprogrammed in order to help quit smoking, overeating. During hypnotherapy sessions the subconscious mind can be reprogrammed in such an extent that the willpower to quit smoking is boosted and made more powerful.’’

‘’It’s important people understand that hypnosis is not only effective but totally safe.’’

‘’A lot of people have the false belief that hypnosis can be used against them or that they will lose control over themselves. This simply is not true. It is an idea that has been born from fiction or Hollywood movies. In reality, hypnosis is an art which has helped thousands to quit smoking or lose weight or helped boost confidence so that people can achieve their full potential.’’

What would you say to disbelievers who fail to understand the power of hypnotherapy? 

Aaron concludes: ‘’Try it before you knock it. Just one session will begin the journey of transforming your life!’’

What is Anxiety Hypnosis?

According to the NHS website, Generalized Anxiety Disorder or (GAD) is a feeling of unease, such as worry or fear, that can be mild or severe.According to the NHS website, Generalized Anxiety Disorder or (GAD) is a feeling of unease, such as worry or fear, that can be mild or severe.

Everyone has feelings of anxiety at some point in their life – for example, you may feel worried and anxious about sitting an exam, or having a medical test or job interview. During times like these, feeling anxious can be perfectly normal.However, some people find it hard to control their worries. Their feelings of anxiety are more constant and can often affect their daily lives.

Anxiety is the main symptom of several conditions, including:

• panic disorder
• phobias – such as agoraphobia or claustrophobia
• post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
• social anxiety disorder (social phobia)

In short, Anxiety is often at the root of the disorders most of my patients come to see me to address.

GAD is a common condition, estimated to affect up to 5% of the UK population. Slightly more women are affected than men, and the condition is more common in people from the ages of 35 to 59.

Some Facts about Anxiety in the UK

In 2016, 81.1% of the population was aged 16 and over (65,648,054) that means that some 3,282,403 people in the UK suffered with anxiety. That’s more than the population of some countries (Uruguay, Armenia, Lithuania, Slovenia, Qatar).

Notice the age of sufferers? Anxiety seems to affect us more as life tends to get more serious. The average age of a home buyer in London is 32 and the average age of new parents is 28.6 years (women) and 33.2 years for men. So there could be a direct correlation to additional life stresses, noting that the highest rates of divorce also take place between 30 and 60 years old.

This also shows that anxiety is quite normal. If anxiety is a direct reaction mentally in the body to stress, it happens frequently and readily.

Hypnotherapy for Anxiety

Anxiety hypnosis treatments are widely accepted and recognizable, as a genuine form of treatment. Hypnotherapy can help a person suffering from anxiety by subliminal messaging to promote confidence and belief in oneself. It also helps anxiety sufferers reduce stress, feelings of fear and intense worry by subconscious persuasion bringing calming thoughts reinforced with the use of Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP).

Anxiety hypnosis therapy focuses on unlocking the subconscious aspects of your mind using the power of suggestion to instil positive change. Like any form of treatment, it can be a short permanent treatment or sometimes you may need to go back for further sessions. This all depends on the individual.

During the anxiety hypnosis therapy, your hypnotherapist if NLP trained will use positive reinforcement to help change your train of thought, but based on careful consultation prior, to establish the causes of the underlying issues.

Is anxiety hypnosis therapy an alternative to medicine?

Like any form of treatment, there will be varying degrees of success. As more people look for holistic, non-medicated forms of treatment, hypnosis and its value, is becoming far widely adopted. It is even listed as an alternative treatment on the NHS website.

But hypnotherapists are not doctors, we are not medically qualified to discuss anything other than what we understand. Many of us are learned in the study of mental health, have coaching qualifications, NLP qualifications and are strong in experience in dealing with such issues.

If you suffer from anxiety or any of its other forms it presents itself as, feel free to talk to City Hypnosis in London and follow us on Social Media for more how hypnotherapy works for the benefit of the individual.

Stoptober Gosober Quit Drugs with hypnotherapy

Stoptober it’s time to quit smoking for good

Stoptober Gosober quit drugs! Sounds like quite a mouthful but what impact does that statement make to you? What do you understand or interpret from that? Is it simply a catchy quote I’ve put together or is there something more to all of this?

It’s that time of year again when the masses consider giving up smoking, drinking, and drugs. There’s something about a mass decision, no inclusion, in a mass social activity that brings out the best and worst in people.

Stoptober

Stoptober run by Public Health England is a 28 day campaign that starts October 1st. The research collected so far shows that if you can stop smoking for 28 days, you are 5 times more likely to stay smoke free for good. But they aren’t stats, look at some historical data below

Key Facts

Smoking prevalence

•  In 2014, 19 per cent of adults in Great Britain currently smoked, down from a peak of 46 per cent in 1974.

•  Average consumption among smokers was 11 cigarettes a day – the lowest daily cigarette consumption since the series began when it was 16.

•  In 2014, 18 per cent of secondary school pupils reported they had tried smoking at least once.

Hospital admissions

•  There were 1.7 million admissions for conditions that could be caused by smoking in 2014/15.  This is an average of 4.7 thousand admissions per day.

•  Of these 475 thousand (28 per cent) were estimated to be attributed to smoking.

Deaths

•  There were 78,000 deaths in 2014 which were estimated to be attributed to smoking.

E-cigarettes

•  In 2015, 4 per cent of adults in Great Britain were current e-cigarette users.

•  More secondary school pupils reported having tried e-cigarettes at least once (22 per cent) than traditional cigarettes (18 per cent).

Expenditure

•  In 2015, tobacco was 27 per cent less affordable than it was in 2005.

•  Tobacco expenditure as a proportion of total household expenditure has fallen to 1.7 per cent in 2015 from 3.3 per cent in 1985.

Prescriptions

•  In 2014/15 the number of prescription items dispensed in England to help people stop smoking was 1.3 million, compared to 2.0 million ten years ago.

•  The net ingredient cost was £38.1 million.

Data from digital.nhs.uk

Again, these are great figures but what do they mean to you? Nothing there is going to make you think “Yes, it’s time to quit” is there? If you have anything to share, please leave a comment at the end of this article.

But what if I showed you a picture of a set of smokers lungs versus the lungs of a non-smoker?

Or the damage it can cause to your teeth? That’s the impact it can have on your mouth!

Images may go some way to put you off, I’m not sure the smokers that buy cigarettes with these images on them care much, so I’d safely say image plays a part but isn’t decisive.

Would you say the physical scarring smoking leaves on you will force you to change? Look at the images of these twins and see the difference between the smokers and the non-smokers.

Whilst slimmer, twin B shows far more signs of ageing

Here twin B has more aging in her face, dark circles around the eyes and looks generally more tired.

In this photo, twin B is clearly aging at a much faster rate than her sibling in the first image, would this image give you cause to stop? Consider stopping? Or just give you cause for concern?

No?

What about the combined sets of information you’ve just read? Facts, organ visuals and the aging does on the outside of the body. Can these individual pieces of information combined convince you to stop smoking for Stoptober?

Gosober

Gosober started out as a social charitable event with the aim of individuals as a collective or en masse giving up the consumption of alcohol to raise money. McMillan Cancer are an avid sponsor of Gosober.

But should Gosober have more of an in-depth meaning? Should it be used a way to raise public awareness of the true damage that Alcoholism does to individuals and families mentally, physically and emotionally?

Do you know the long-term medical side effects of alcohol abuse? Look at the list below:

• Brain Damage
• Cancers
• Hypertension (Heart and Circulation)
• Lungs
• Liver
• Stomach
• Pancreas
• Intestine
• Kidneys
• Fertility
• Bones (lack of calcium absorption)
• Weight Gain
• Skin Damage
• Sexual Health (promiscuity can lead to HIV, chlamydia or hepatitis when inebriated)
• Mental Health (anxiety, depression, risk-taking behaviour, suicide, personality disorders & schizophrenia)

And some of the facts:

Alcohol has also been linked to suicide. The Mental Health Foundation reports that:

• 65% of suicides have been linked to excessive drinking;
• 70% of men who take their own life drink alcohol before doing so;
• almost one-third of suicides among young people take place while the person is intoxicated.

Excessive drinking can disrupt normal sleeping patterns, resulting in insomnia and a lack of restful sleep, which can contribute to stress and anxiety.

1 Mental Health Foundation. Cheers! Understanding the relationship between alcohol and mental health. London: Mental Health Foundation, 2006.

So, you’ve read the medical damage listed above, seen the association to suicide and mental illness through research, does this make you view alcohol abuse differently? If you saw a friend or loved one getting more and more outrageous or conniving around their consumption of alcohol, would you intervene now?

How about some pictures?

Do any of these trigger emotions that would make you intervene if these were friends or if this image of a liver below was inside you right now?
stoptober-gosober-quit-alcohol-4

I’m guessing it may offend you a little, maybe you recoiled looking at it, but has it made you reconsider the effects your own drinking may be having on your body?

Quit drugs

We’ve all seen the effects of drug abuse on our TV’s, possibly friends or family and in adverts in newspapers, magazines or websites. But what about you? Do you consume drugs recreationally as a way to escape reality or as a way to “have fun” on the weekend? Do you have a more severe dependency on drugs? Is it ruining your relationships with your friends or families or in your place of work?

Drugs always ruin lives! You may not see or accept it in recreational drug use as you possibly only partake on weekends or when you go away to a holiday destination. But remember, you simply do not know what you are injecting sniffing or smoking.

Binge abuse on drugs is as bad as binge abuse on alcohol. Overloading the body with stimulants causes hard work on the internal organs as well as external organ, your skin. You can overdose, dehydrate, go into a coma or even die, it’s a very serious issue that needs addressing.

Overcoming drug addiction has followed the same path for years now, this help-guide to staged recovery talks about it in depth. The 12 steps, the recovery program, they all play a part in helping addicts of all natures overcome their dependency.

But what would make you or someone you know give up their addiction? And you do realise that even recreational use is an addiction?

Let’s look at the facts:

Key Facts
Drug misuse related hospital admissions (England)

In 2015/16 there were 8,621 hospital admissions with a primary diagnosis of drug-related mental health and behavioural disorders. This is 6 per cent more than 2014/15 and 11 per cent higher than 2005/06.

There were 15,074 hospital admissions with a primary diagnosis of poisoning by illicit drugs. This is 6 per cent more than 2014/15 and 51 per cent more than 2005/06.

Deaths related to drug misuse (England and Wales)

In 2015 there were 2,479 registered deaths related to drug misuse. This is an increase of 10 per cent on 2014 and 48 per cent higher than 2005.

Deaths related to drug misuse are at their highest level since comparable records began in 1993.

Drug use among adults (England and Wales)

In 2015/16, around 1 in 12 (8.4 per cent) adults aged 16 to 59 had taken an illicit drug in the last year. This equates to around 2.7 million people.

This level of drug use was similar to the 2014/15 survey (8.6 per cent), but is significantly lower than a decade ago (10.5 per cent in the 2005/06 survey).

Drug use among children (England)

In 2014, 15 per cent of pupils had ever taken drugs, 10 per cent had taken drugs in the last year and 6 per cent had taken drugs in the last month.

The prevalence of drug use increased with age. 6 per cent of 11-year old’s said they had tried drugs at least once, compared with 24 per cent of 115-year-olds.

nhs.digital.uk

Do any of these make you think, Right, I need help? Or my friend or family member needs help?

What about some pictures, will they activate a motion to quit within you or to motivate you to help someone close to you?

No? Maybe? Yes?

Power of The Mind

They say you form habits in 21- 30 days of repetitive activity. Imagine that? That is behavioural patterns, eating habits, recreational habits, addictions, positive outcomes.

But not all positive outcomes happen in 21-30 days.

Drugs have a biochemical reaction in the body as much as cigarettes and alcohol do. So why is it that two people taking the same drugs can have one totally addicted and one able to pick it up and put it down as they please?

This has something to with the mind, the subconscious and human nature.

Now, look back at what I discussed around Stoptober Gosober quit drugs in this article earlier. Look at how I presented you with different stimulants to different subjects to get a reaction to the subject at hand. I presented you with facts and images. I tried to get you to view all the relevant information to see if in part or cumulatively they would inspire you to make a change within yourself or to reach out and help someone you know.

I also wanted to show you just how much your own mind plays in the decisions you make. For example, did you notice what information gave you a reaction and what didn’t? Did the images have a greater effect than the facts or vice versa?

All these reactions are triggered subconsciously and that is where hypnosis can play a huge part in quitting smoking, resolving your alcohol issues and helping you to remove your dependency on drugs.

Hypnosis focuses on delivering positive messaging to the subconscious to strengthen your natural resolve, it programs your mind to dislike the smoke, the taste or smell of alcohol and to decide not to partake in recreational or dependent drug use.

The power of the mind can be the single part of the equation that helps you defeat or succumb to excessive drinking or alcohol or drug dependency. It can choose to smoke a cigarette or throw one away. It subconsciously moves us through the day without us consciously realising this in our moment to moment activity.

If the mind is this powerful, this connected in everything we do, then you should seriously consider the impact of subconscious programming to help defend against the temptations of drinking smoking and taking drugs.

Stoptober Gosober quit drugs, I say be pragmatic and give yourself or a loved one the best chance they have to quit and make Stoptober through hypnosis, the month you really forget.

Aaron Surtees of City Hypnosis London, a leading Hypnotherapy Practice, has achieved consistent long-term success treating his clients over the past 15 years. Having a 90% success rate across all treatments in 1-2-1 sessions or by using his internationally recognised mp3 downloads.

If you have a question regarding drinking, smoking and drug addiction success rates, please call City Hypnosis London or email us here.

Top Questions to ask your Hypnotherapist in London

Aaron Surtees of City Hypnosis London spells out the questions you should ask your potential hypnotherapist in London. You can of course use these questions anywhere, but as his practice is in the City of London, he feels it pertinent to ensure you are armed when you visit him or his peers.

He feels that hypnotherapists in London are like consultants for the mind and therefore he feels that as you wouldn’t hire a consultant on their word, nor should you hire a hypnotherapist in London either. But before we even list the questions always ensure that your hypnotherapist belongs to a recognised body such as The General Hypnotherapy Register.
Questions to ask your Hypnotherapist 

When questioning the hypnotherapist, not only do you want the professional to respond to your questions, but you also want to feel like the hypnotherapist has paid attention and questions you properly in return.

So I split the questions between, background and experience and chemistry and fit. Both extremely important when choosing a hypnotherapist in London.

Background and Experience

• What was your professional experience before you became a hypnotherapist? And how long have you practiced for?
• Are you a specialist or a generalist? What value or special skill set do you bring to the table?
• What is your prior experience with clients of my problem and what are your proven success rates? (Asking about the types of problems a therapist has dealt with can uncover a therapist’s level of variety of issue knowledge. This can avoid a significant number of hours wasted on an unproven therapist.)
• Have you written anything, published or not, that deals with issues we face? (A good therapist will have written e-books or published books addressing their area of specialism).
• Who are the people and companies with whom you’ve personally worked before? Can we call them to ask about your work? (Any therapist worth their salt would be happy to divulge clients who can back them up or provide written testimonials or online testimonials).
• How many sessions typically does it take to achieve results?

Chemistry and Fit of Your hypnotherapist

• Did the consultant immediately conclude that he or she understands the problems inside and out and has the “perfect solution” without knowing where your problems lie or what issues you are dealing with?
• What impact will this person’s hypnotherapy sessions have on us long after the treatments or sessions are over?
• Ask to see images of their practice if there are none on their website (avoid visiting a hypnotherapist in non-professional premises, this often as a result affects the experience and the success rate).
• Does the consultant appear to walk the talk? Does he practice what he preaches? (For example, visiting an overweight therapist for weight loss therapy may not produce the best results).
• Do you believe that this person will stand on his or her convictions and deliver therapy through their knowledge tactfully yet directly, whether it’s to be well-received or not?

In his mind, Aaron believes that these questions are vitally important to ensure you are working with the right therapist to achieve the right results. There are of course a number of other questions to ask your potential therapist, but they can develop from your initial conversation based upon your wants and needs. Should you need to ask any questions, feel free to reach out and email us and Aaron will get back as soon as possible.

How can I lose weight?

“How can I lose weight?”, it’s a question that men and women have been asking of themselves and of each other for centuries. In this article, Aaron Surtees of City Hypnosis looks at the real reasons that prevent people from losing weight and maintaining it.

Weight Loss, the Facts

The weight loss industry has been thriving for years. Time and again, fad diets and new supplementary diets appear in the market and why not? Its big business. During my research on this article I came across reports from both the UK and the US looking at the industry as a whole.

In February 2015, a research and markets report from the US predicted that the weight loss market, covering Weight Loss and Weight Management Market by Equipment (Fitness Equipment (Treadmill, Stair Steppers)), Surgical Equipment (Adjustable Gastric Band, Gastric Bypass), Diet (Weight Loss Meals, Diet Soft Drinks), Weight Loss Services would rise from $148.1 billion in 2014 to $206.4 billion in 2019.

This was contradicted by a report the previous year in The Metro, which reported that 29 million Britons were focused on how can I lose weight and that the industry would reach £220 billion ($288.9 billion) by 2017.

The reports are focused on different countries of course but the American report seems open to question considering there are more Americans per square foot than there are Brits and the figures there seem far lower.

However, later reports indicated that the US figures were actually inflated as people there started adopting a healthier fresh food diet over their typically processed food and fatty food diets.

Weight gain, the causes

Emotional

Quite often people that suffer from excessive weight gain or weight loss have suffered some sort of emotional distress. This can stem from abuse, both physical and mental and quite often the patient hasn’t even realized that’s the root cause of their issue. They don’t tie the relationship with food to the trauma.

Confidence

Confidence, or a lack of it can also cause excessive weight gain or weight loss and as such is a major consideration in the treatment of the relationship with food. How we perceive ourselves is very important and in many cases I’ve treated, my patients have had used food as a crutch. Others have used it as a way to punish themselves and make themselves regurgitate once they’ve consumed it.

Culturally we have become a society of “wannabes” looking up to media created stereotypes focusing on body shape, fashion and other material belongings. Trying to live up to these puts undue pressure on a number of us whilst we try to maintain lifestyles we cannot afford and often turning that upon ourselves and again creating a punishment cycle.

Relationships

Relationships are also a major cause of the development of a negative relationship with food. Quite often those in hard personal or work related relationships turn to sugary and fatty foods to provide short term relief to the environment they find themselves in.

Quite often those in abusive relationships or those feeling like there is a lack of love between a couple start to use a crutch to provide emotional support, even at a basic level, like sugar provides to get through the day.

Treatment with hypnotherapy not only looks at the issue with food, but looks to treat the other causes, which is why a hypnotherapist with an NLP qualification achieves such great results.

Mental

Mental issues with food relationships are often hard to work through. As you can tell by what you’ve already read, there are often a number of smaller issues or problems that combine to create the need to gorge or to regurgitate your foodstuff.

Mental issues are things like anxiety, the side effects of abuse, low self-esteem and the like and hypnosis can certainly help with moving the individual into a more positive mindset and the NLP to create the right subliminal messaging.

Anxiety

Anxiety is one of the main things I treat with any other associated symptom. With weight loss clients, smokers, gamblers, those with fear of flying and so on.

It affects patients both physically, mentally and emotionally and quite often leads us into behavioural patterns that have a negative effect on the body and our day-to-day lives.

Abuse

Abuse is figurative word in this discussion. We have been abused, we can self-abuse and we can abuse others around us. With a carefully assessed treatment plan, hypnotherapy can help your subconscious mind allow you to move forward progressively. This is most certainly dependent on the therapist you visit. Many of us have trained in counselling as well as NLP and hypnotherapy giving us good stead to treat a variety of symptoms at the same time

Weight gain, can be a defence

Using weight to avoid people is far more common than you think. Most of us are visually put off by extremes of weight loss or weight gain, but have no doubt this is also felt by the victims in this. They do not perceive themselves any better than you do.

So it may seem unnatural to say that some people will use weight as a defense but often abuse leaves victims feeling like they can’t be loved so they back that internal feeling up with weight gain and weight loss, dependent on the individual.

Again I want to stress that as much as counselling is a necessary part of the recovery process, using NLP and hypnotherapy tactics to further support the road to recovery is a smart choice.

Weight Loss Solutions

So in closing, whilst this has been a brief but purposeful look at the causes of weight gain or weight loss, you can come to appreciate why possibly you, or someone you love isn’t losing weight and maintaining the weight loss.

It’s about the diet, the portion size, the lifestyle and the treatment of any underlying associated issues.

Like any treatment there is a cost to hypnotherapy treatments, but if you would like to try an alternative treatment type to one to one therapy sessions, you could check out a MP3 download and see how you get on with that first.

Note that I personally record all of your sessions and pass those to you so you can revert to listening whenever you feel the need to “to up” the work we may have done. The main difference however is that with an mp3 the cost is lower, but with the therapy consultation, we can delve deeper and look for deep rooted underlying issues that may be preventing you from maintaining the weight loss.

Check out my weight loss ebook or alternatively check out my webinar session where I answer questions from people on Facebook.

Thanks for reading.

The real reasons Hypnotherapy helps with weight problems

According to Benjamin Bonnetti, the self-proclaimed inventor of The Hypnotic Gastric Band, the main reason hypnotherapy doesn’t work is because those that practice it quite often don’t take care of themselves. He feels it’s like selling a false dawn, how can someone slightly overweight or out of shape convince someone else that they can help them get over their own weight issues.

But that could be a bias as he also claims he is the specialist in weight loss hypnosis. The go-to person. I’m not sure many of you would look at his website and agree. That’s not because I don’t believe him, more because it seems like a platform designed to drive online sales, but not in an educative fashion, just purely sales. I don’t see how that can help anybody who’s trying to educate themselves?

Why I believe you must have hypnotherapy as part of your weight management programme

Quite recently I wrote a post that looked at the causes of weight gain and why prolonged weight management doesn’t work for so many people. Within that article I touched lightly on a number of issues that directly effect around 70-80% of my patients and typically at least one section will resonate with my readers.

What you will read in that post is that weight loss or weight gain in its extremes, like bulimia and obesity are often caused by emotional or physical trauma (except where medical symptoms are present). These traumas can be ongoing, delivered from an external source or can be self-inflicted, by abusing the body to try and deal with the original source.

As such most people would understand that they can lose the weight in the short term using dietary supplements and even a lifestyle change. But gradually over time the weight creeps back on because the underlying psychological or emotional issues haven’t been addressed.

To do this (address the issues) counselling and or cognitive behavioural therapy are often needed in tandem.

But how do people come to accept they need to address other issues?

Now this is a fantastic question. It’s so good because weight loss and weight gain are often linked to the emotional and mental state of the individual, that it almost takes an epiphany or you simply reach a point where you accept you need to speak to someone.

They also need to admit to themselves they are possibly over-eating (portion size), poor in the diet (sugary and fatty foods), making themselves sick after eating or breaking down and crying in private after eating (feeling guilty), drinking excessively not only brings alcoholism into this but the sugars involved in alcohol especially wine and beer add massive calories. Finally, the most obvious, is a complete lack of any exercise, even brisk walking.

Any combination of the above should lead you to develop the mindset to want to change, but then utilize your own mind to become stronger in focus and application than to find a crutch again in faddish and expensive dietary supplements or powdered drinks.

What do you know about hypnotherapists?

What most won’t know is that a lot of the very good hypnotherapists are often trained in multiple forms of therapy. They have counselling degrees, they have Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) qualifications, the hypnotherapy qualifications (obviously) and sometimes Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) certifications. It’s these combinations of qualifications that allow us to develop a far more rounded approach to the therapy sessions.

In short, we can provide the therapeutic support counselling offers and utilize the power of hypnotherapy and subliminal suggestion  to deeply embed messaging to help advance the state of mind change required for long term success.

With many of us offering comprehensive initial assessments to determine the range and of depth of treatment needed, patients are often made aware of other compelling issues that can be treated at the same time.

This is the last in a series of weight loss and management articles I’ll be writing for some time as I turn to educating you on other treatments and how hypnotherapy helps treat those symptoms.

Please check out my weight loss ebook which you can download for free, or listen to my webinar where I answer questions from Facebook on the subject. Finally, feel free to download my free relaxation mp3 which can help you unwind after hard or stressful days at home or at work.

I look forward to seeing you back on the blog in the near future, so if you need reminding please join our mailing list or download our free android app from the play store.

How does gastric band hypnotherapy work?

How does gastric band hypnotherapy work? Gastric band hypnotherapy works by your hypnotherapist delivering a message to your subconscious instructing it to believe you have had a gastric band fitted. Many people report feeling full quite quickly when eating after the treatment, like their stomach has been really restricted.

BUT WHAT IS A GASTRIC BAND?

A gastric band is a donut shaped silicone device that is fitted around the upper stomach creating a small pouch that prevents the individual from being able to store a lot of food making it difficult to consume large meals.

By inserting the device under anaesthetic, the aim is to prevent the person eating large meals, ensuring the person feels full very quickly, resulting in weight loss. Typical costs range between £5,000 and £8,000.

HOW DOES HYPNOTHERAPY WORK IN THIS CASE?

Your hypnosis practitioner should initially consult with you to establish that you have been to a medical doctor as this type of therapy is typically undertaken by the morbidly obese who are nervous or frightened by traditional invasive medical procedures.

Once he or she has established the facts around your medical history, they should then take you through a verbal rundown of what you should expect from the therapy and how many sessions it would likely take, to “cement” the idea that you have the gastric band in place.

They should answer all and any questions you have regarding the therapy treatment and ensure you are aware of what it entails.

WHAT SHOULD I LOOK FOR IN A THERAPIST?

Many therapists that practice gastric band hypnosis are well versed in the practice. Some will lead with this as their main area of specialism as others lead with curing smoking. But when it comes what to look for in a therapist my main points would be:

• Check for a long history of success, look for any letters, awards and testimonials on independent review sites
• Make sure you are comfortable with the therapist, I’ve heard reports of people not completing courses of treatment because something about the therapists’ style doesn’t suit them. Tone of voice etc
• See if there are free downloads on the website to get an idea of what your experience would be like, many good therapists offer this
• Visit a few different practitioners to ensure you feel well-educated around your issue, a therapist with a supporting NLP certification would always be a preferable choice

WHY ITS MORE THAN HYPNOTHERAPY

Remember, when losing weight, don’t convince yourself that your “crutch” is your saviour. You can’t lose weight by saying one thing and doing another then blaming your crutch for failing.

Hypnotherapy is the ideal support for an individual intent on losing weight, but can also help with portion control, fast food aversion and many other things designed to subliminally support you through the process.

Those intent on losing the weight will have the greatest success, but diets aren’t always good. Especially those which require you to purchase shakes and powders as that is a crutch. What you really need is a lifestyle change and an NLP trained hypnotherapist will help you to make gastric band hypnosis work for you.

HOW TO CONTINUE YOUR SUCCESS

Continued success of your gastric band hypnotherapy sessions is compounded by completing the suggested number of sessions. You can see great results in one or two sessions but you should always like any form of medication or therapy complete the number of sessions your therapist suggested.

A good therapist will also record the sessions and provide you with mp3 recordings so you can revert to them as often as you need to.

Other Sources

• Story A
• Story B
• A Hypnotherapists View
• Story C

Does Weight Loss Hypnosis Stop Comfort Eating?

Hypnotherapy has its doubters for sure, but the question was recently asked, “Does weight loss hypnosis stop comfort eating?”

Hypnotherapy on Television

Many people’s first experience of hypnosis is on television with the “entertainment” side of the business. This has demonstrated people running around like chickens or indeed barking like dogs. But that is just for TV, it’s nothing like the real practice of hypnotherapy, which helps thousands of people annually overcome emotional impediments in their lives like anxiety, fear of flying or spiders, sexual issues, relationship issues, alcoholism, drug abuse and the relationship with food.

Hypnotherapy and Neuro Lingusitic Programming (NLP)

The clients that work with City Hypnosis suffer from one or a number of issues at any one time and a combination of hypnotherapy treatments, coupled with neuro linguistic programming (NLP) really goes a long way to helping those individuals resolve the underlying issues and move forward in a positive fashion.

Aaron Surtees Hypnotherapist

Quite recently Aaron Surtees, director of City Hypnosis and senior hypnotherapist took questions in an interview from people on Facebook, who have never used hypnotherapy but were open to the idea and wanted some upfront answers. All questions were about the topic of weight loss hypnosis and what to expect and how it can help an individual move forward.

The topic as I already mentioned was the question, “Does weight loss hypnosis stop comfort eating?”

The Surtees Method

This article will look at that question and expand on whether it can help and also looks at how Aaron Surtees manages this process, known as the “Surtees Method”.

When quizzed on the subject, Aaron answered “We initially gain all in the information about their problem e.g. weight loss, whether they over eat, eat too much sugar and processed food products, whether they eat through stress or boredom rather than through physical need for food etc. This is done in person, via the phone or via email but is carefully and thoroughly collected through our consultation process.

Once we have collated that information, we then talk about the number of sessions we require, typically 4 weekly sessions or bi-weekly sessions.

In this first therapy session when we meet, we discuss their issues and agree on what help they need to better their relationship with food and therefore affect weight loss.

After we have discussed that and the client is happy and comfortable, we then go into the hypnotic phase where I utilize my 15 years experience of weight loss hypnosis and mind programming to plant the seeds needed into their subconscious mind, to bring about the fundamental mindset changes needed.

The sessions are recorded and the client is recommended to listen to the recording of the session as much as possible in between appointments.

For the following 3 sessions we reinforce all positive results felt throughout the process as well adding in or tweaking areas depending on how they have felt between sessions. So you can see, in addition to simply treating the initial issues, we are constantly revisiting the client’s progress in order to ensure that we are getting maximum effect from the hypnotherapy treatments.

City Hypnosis also ensure they are listening to the recordings post treatment to further cement the permanent changes in their eating habits and relationship with food.

What happens post treatment

Once the hypnotherapy treatments are completed, from time to time you may need a top up session or two. This usually happens when a client has stopped listening to their recording on a regular basis or has had a shift in lifestyle or a tragic event has occurred.

City Hypnosis are always on hand to help bring you back to a point of recognition and treatment in order to once again get your focus on a healthy relationship with food.

5 things you didn’t know about gastric band hypnotherapy

The first thing that crosses my mind is that I should tell you that gastric band hypnotherapy isn’t for everyone, what I mean is that it isn’t successful for everyone. The most successful patients are the ones that truly want to change their weight, eating habits and food relationships. Those looking for a crutch, or just a helping hand so that they don’t really have to apply themselves aren’t likely to be as successful longer term. Hypnotic suggestion works best with those with the right mindset, although that shouldn’t imply that gastric band hypnotherapy wouldn’t work for you, every case is measured on its own merits for suitability.

To try and show impartiality around the process please feel free to check out some video testimonials and feedback from a colleague based out in Australia.

Below I will talk to 5 things you didn’t know about gastric band hypnotherapy in order to try and point out what it is you should truly understand.

You don’t have a gastric band fitted

It seems an obvious point to cover, but I’ve had several calls from people confusing the practice of gastric band hypnotherapy with the actual medical procedure provided privately or on the NHS. Hypnoband is the most common practice of gastric band hypnotherapy and it does not involve surgery.

Hypnotherapy is a non-invasive form of weight loss hypnotherapy using suggestion and cognitive behavioural therapy to achieve the desired results. There is no need to visit a hospital, doctor or nurse, ideal if you have a fear any of the afore mentioned.

Will it work for me?

Gastric band hypnotherapy is dependent on you. You need to be absolutely committed to losing weight in your head and heart. This solution isn’t for those looking for “something else to take control”. YOU are the key to your own success!

Candidates must be prepared to change your eating habits and overall your lifestyle and if more than one person in your home is suitable for the therapy consider this if that individual isn’t prepared to change their habits. This could have a direct impact to your own results if you are constantly around triggers and prompts to eat large or unsuitable meals.

If you are truly serious about losing weight then it will work for you.

Is Gastric band hypnotherapy guaranteed to make me lose weight?

No medical carries any specific guarantee of result, due to any number of factors that can affect the outcome of the procedure or practice. One thing we can confirm is that there will be no medical side effects to gastric band hypnotherapy.

You have to remember that with any form of hypnosis, quitting smoking, fear of heights or spiders, the results are dependent on the individual, that’s YOU! No form of hypnotherapy will work if you are not 100% committed.

You must understand that the mind is a very complex and powerful organ and by undergoing gastric band hypnotherapy you will be arming yourself with the necessary tools to change your old eating habits for good. The treatment is aimed to help you change mindset and lifestyle and that will enable you to change your relationship with food and lose that weight.

What should I expect from my course of treatment?

Gastric band hypnotherapy treatment consists of an appraisal session as well as several hour-long therapy sessions. We often support this with a CD or MP3 recording to help you “top up” the treatment further down the line.

A good therapist will take a full breakdown of your dietary and medical history before proceeding with any treatment. During the first treatment, you will be introduced to hypnosis, a state of heightened learning, where you will also feel extremely relaxed and calm.

During the following sessions, you will be introduced to the gastric band hypnotherapy and your hypnotherapist will work with you to “fit” the virtual gastric band for maximum effect.

The later sessions will cover your relationship with food and your eating habits.

What does it cost?

Unfortunately, there are no fixed prices across the board. The more successful that your therapist has been with his practice, the more they will charge as they can back up their claims and prove results.

How you could possibly approach it, dependent on your own circumstances is to compare the prices that you are quoted vs. the quoted prices of medical gastric bands, which I have seen advertised upwards of £5,950 in London.

I can say you can reasonably expect to pay a quarter to a third of that cost to cover your appraisal, treatment and subsequent MP3 or CD support services. On some occasions, much further down the line you may wish to top up your gastric band hypnotherapy treatment.

Do you want to lose weight?

Thousands of people are feeling just like you do right now. Christmas has been and gone, the festivities have brought a few extra pounds and the drinking sessions seem to have continued from there.

But deep down, you know you’re not really happy with what’s going on and you want to change.

Maybe diets haven’t worked for you so far, but you’re willing to try something that will give you the positive edge you need to control the cravings you have around food.

If hypnotherapy is something that you are prepared to try, why don’t you download my free e-book on why dieting alone won’t provide the results you’ve been seeking.

Understand why Diets alone don’t maintain Weight Loss Success

Download our guide on why diets alone fail to maintain success!

Hypnotherapy supports your diet by:

• Planting subconscious suggestion
• Removing the need to cheat
• Learn why dieting doesn’t change your    habits

Hypnosis has proven results in aiding weight loss.

Many people have to understand that a bad or unhealthy diet usually comes from years of habitual training of your food consumption.

Working late, lack of access to healthy, suitable alternatives, lifestyle and a lack of understanding of what’s good and what isn’t contribute.

City Hypnosis guide to why diets fail will help you understand these issues.