Hypnosis for Weight Loss and Smoking Cessation
Hypnosis is a dream-like state usually induced by a certified practitioner. Individuals can learn to self-induce hypnosis as a way to manage pain, negative behaviors, and obsessive thoughts. The most popular treatment is hypnosis for smoking cessation. The second most popular is hypnosis for weight loss. The best hypnotherapists are licensed psychologists with additional certification in this form of hypnotherapy. Many psychologists find that hypnotherapy is a successful and speedy alternative to traditional treatment for certain behavioral types. This article will focus on hypnosis for weight loss and smoking cessation.
Hypnosis causes the mind and body to relax. This creates an altered consciousness in which the patient is open to outside suggestions due to his/her subconscious and conscious mind interacting. Hypnotherapy allows the therapist to make direct contact with the patient's subconscious mind. Because of the patient's suggestibility and the therapist's control, it is very easy for the therapist to make suggestions and for the patient to unconsciously make these new suggestions a part of their normal thought process. The nature of hypnotherapy makes it imperative that the therapist be certified and ethical so that no harm comes to the patient.
How Patients Use Hypnosis for Weight Loss and Smoking Cessation
Many overeaters and smokers will tell you they have tried everything to quit including medications like Wellbutrin and cognitive-behavioral therapy which attempts to replace negative thoughts and behaviors with positive thoughts and behaviors. For those trying to lose weight or quit smoking, hypnosis may be their last ditch effort to quit the habit. Anyone with an addiction, be it food, cigarettes, alcohol, or caffeine can benefit from hypnosis- especially after all else fails. But how does it work? First of all, patients must be comfortable with their therapist. A guarded or distrustful mind is not open to hypnosis.
Once patients are comfortable, therapists help them induce a physically and mentally relaxed state in which they are not asleep but not exactly awake either. Next, patients are taught to either think thin (in hypnosis for weight loss) or think smoke-free (in hypnosis for smoking cessation). Therapists may have patients make statements aloud that give positive feedback to non-addictive behaviors. They may have patients imagine situations in which they are faced with their addiction and ask them to explain how to manage that situation.
Therapists may make statements themselves. In hypnosis for weight loss, they may tell the patient "You are not going to eat when watching TV anymore," to break a patient's specific bad habit. In traditional "talk" therapy, psychologists use similar methods to get patients to work out their problems by finding solutions. However, hypnotherapy is highly effective to re-program the mind while it is in a relaxed state. Patients see results in just a few sessions rather than in months or years as with traditional therapy.
