You’ve tried dieting, along
with every form of exercise that even remotely breaks a sweat, but still
can’t ditch the weight. You’ve hired trainers, doctors, nutritionists. But
there may be another professional you’re overlooking—one who holds the key to
keeping your weaknesses from winning: a hypnotist.
You’re probably skeptical.
That’s because Hollywood has given us a very specific, and very inaccurate,
portrait of what a hypnotist does and is capable of doing. “You won’t turn into
a zombie or cluck like a chicken,” says Valorie Wells,
Ph.D., a clinical hypnosis practitioner in Kansas City, MO.
“Hypnotherapy is really just you telling yourself how you want you to be,
whether it’s to sleep better, to lose weight, to drive on a highway at full
speed between two trucks.”
And while research is scarce,
what we do have says hypnosis works surprisingly well. Early studies found that people who used hypnosis lost
more than twice as much weight as those who dieted without the therapy. A study
in International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis found
women who underwent hypnobehavioral therapy lost weight, improved their eating
habits, and improved their body image. Meanwhile, a meta-analysis by British researchers found hypnosis can actually help
regulate the release of peptides that control how hungry and full you feel.
WHO SHOULD TRY IT?
Emotional and unconscious
eaters are prime candidates for hypnotherapy—the therapeutic use of clinical
hypnosis. “By the time a patient comes to me, they’ve usually tried every weight-loss plan
on the planet,” says Wells. “They know what they should and shouldn’t eat. They
just don’t have the willpower to follow it.”
This is key, because the heart
of why hypnosis works is because it teaches you to have more
willpower. “People who see me for weight loss, food has taken the wrong place
in their mind,” Wells explains. The goal of hypnotherapy is to rewrite this
association. “We want to re-integrate the idea that food is fuel.”
HOW IT WORKS
No, there’s no watch-waving, no
“You are getting very sleepy.” Wells explains that her typical session looks
like this: The patient and hypnotherapist have a conversation about what the
patient’s goals are, what their triggers are, what food plans do and don’t work
for them, and what their body type is. “The suggestions I then make under
hypnosis will cater to this,” Wells explains.
Wells adds that nothing she
does is scripted and, other than the message that food is fuel, the hypnotic
suggestions are customized based on this initial conversation.
After the chat, you move into
the hypnosis session, which lasts about 20 to 25 minutes. “What I’m doing is
helping this person balance the voices in their head,” Wells explains.
We all have a healthy
subconscious—the gut reaction that keeps you out of danger or guides good
decisions. “That inner voice is the one that keeps us from acting solely on
emotion. During hypnosis, all I’m doing is turning the volume up on that inner
wisdom and down on the emotional part,” she explains.
What does that actually sound
like? Wells says an example of a hypnotic suggestion might be: “You will reach
for fresh fruit. You will recognize sweets are too heavy for you and that fresh
fruit will make you feel satisfied and nourished.”
Hypnosis isn’t teaching you to
never have cravings, but it’s training your brain to hear, “Man, I’d love
something sweet,” and follow with, “No, I probably don’t really want that.”
“It’s about recognizing that while we feel like doing something, we don’t have
to act that out,” she adds.
NO,
YOU'RE NOT TOTALLY ZONKED OUT
“Someone under hypnosis can
hear everything; they’re still in full control,” Wells assured. It’s kind of
like when you fall asleep with the TV on—you’re vaguely aware of a hum but not
actually tuned in to the dialogue.
And if you’re worried about a
nefarious hypnotist training your brain to do weird things, keep in mind your
subconscious never turns off. “If a hypnotist were to inadvertently give a
suggestion against your moral fiber, your subconscious would bring you out of
hypnosis. It’s just like how you can pick out a real, alarming scream among a
chorus of kids squealing. Your subconscious overrides the blur of the
background,” Wells adds.
HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE?
Most hypnotists will want you
to come in for about half a dozen sessions total, but you should start to see
changes in your automatic thinking after just two. Wells says if her patients
don’t see improvement after three sessions, she re-evaluates with them because
their issue is probably one hypnosis isn’t going to resolve. If your food
issues actually stem from, say, a childhood phobia, hypnosis is the wrong tool
to remove that roadblock.
WHY
IT DOESN'T WORK FOR EVERYONE
A study out of Stanford found that one-quarter of
people can't be hypnotized because of how their brains are wired. And if you
don’t truly want to lose weight—if you’re, say, just considering this avenue
because your doctor suggested it—hypnosis isn’t going to work either, Wells
says.
Other folks who hypnotherapy
might not be right for: anyone with a mental health disorder that is
based on a brain-pattern change, like schizophrenia or bipolar disorder. “Going
into deep hypnosis can actually trigger a cycle, so I wouldn’t treat someone
with this kind of disorder without approval from their psychiatrist first,”
Well says.
HOW TO FIND A HYPNOTHERAPIST
Because hypnotherapy doesn’t
require a license, anyone who can wave a watch can claim to be a hypnotist,
Wells points out. Find a local practitioner through a reliable database, like
the American Society of Clinical Hypnosis or
the National Guild of Hypnotists. Can’t find someone in your area?
A lot of hypnotists, including Wells, can conduct sessions over the phone.
TRY IT AT HOME
If you can’t afford
hypnotherapy, or just aren't comfortable working with a hypnotherapist, you can
perform hypnotherapy on your own. "On a scale of one to 10 effectiveness,
with guided hypnosis being a 10, self-hypnosis is probably a three," Wells
says. "It's like taking a vacation when you're the driver as opposed to
the passenger. You still got a break but you don't come home quite as relaxed."
Still, it’s better than not
taking a vacation at all. And we actually self-hypnotize all the time without
realizing it—we just call it "zoning out" or being "in the
zone," she points out. Put purpose behind it, though, and you may be able
to break bad habits.
Here's how to do it: Look at
your bad habits and write out two to three affirmations for each, she advises.
Your statements should be positive, actionable, and walk through the specific
habits that need to change.
If you're trying to lose
weight through better sleep, write something like, “I will have my teeth
brushed and be in bed by 10 p.m. I will choose not to watch TV to fall asleep.
I will enjoy the comfort of nestling into my pillow as my eyelids grow heavy. I
will rest soundly.” If you want to eat more veggies, write something like,
"I will eat a vegetable with every meal. I will enjoy their bright colors,
flavors, and how they make me feel."
Then, pull up a calming
soundscape (Wells recommends the background from a meditation app like Calm).
"So many of us are used to multimedia nowadays, music can help get you in
the zone," she adds. Open a voice recorder on your phone and read your
affirmations aloud.
Once you have your audio
recording ready to go, listen to it every day in the morning and and at night
when you're getting ready for bed. "These times are ideal because you're
typically on autopilot, so your mind isn't otherwise engaged," Wells says.
The recording should just be background noise—you don't have to be actively
listening since your mind will play along subconsciously.
After a week or two, the
statements you've been listening to will start to change the chatter in your
head and ideally help you make healthier decisions with less of a conscious
struggle, Wells says. On to the next recording!
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