hypnosis?

I was wondering if anyone's tried hypnosis to try and reduce cravings and improve eating habits? I have a friend who swears it worked for her....but I'm still skeptical. I'm seeing a councilor for depression issues, and she thought it might work. ? What do y'all think?

Hello Heather - long time no see.
I did have some hypnosis a few years ago but I always questioned it I was under or not and I have to say it did not help me at all. She was a private practitioner, not one of those places that advertises on TV now days, but I won't do it again myself.
I think it works for some people but I am not one of them
Jan

Hi Jan! Nice to see you!   I've heard that hypnosis works for some people, and not for others. I know I can easily slip into the trance state that they try for, I was working with a hypnotherepist last year, my counsilor recommended her. I was working on getting past my reluctance to wearing my CPAP mask. It didn't work very well, but that could be because I went in thinking it wouldn't. Power of the mind and all. I dunno.

Heather, I'm sure there are all different kinds of hypnosis techniques and I'm not sure that all of them would have worked for me.  I was blessed to have a friend who became a hypnotherapist and I went to her group sessions on weight loss hypnotherapy...I loved every minute of it.  I think some people think that hypnosis takes over your mind and it doesn't work that way at all.  Hypnosis enables you to put your mind in a state of total relaxation so you put out all other thoughts and concentrate on just one thing.  What we did was a lot of visualization.  She started by having us visualize what we would look like at our goal weight, right down to the clothes we would be wearing.  Once I got that image of myself in my head as if I WAS that person, it made it easier for me to love HER and not the big fat girl I hated.  It always seemed that the big fat me just wasn't worth the effort, but the girl in that red dress was worth all of the suffering I endured to get the weight off of her.  Plus, we did a lot of situational visualization.  Like imagining ourselves in situations of food at a party and feeling the angst of not eating it and how we would handle that angst.  If you know how to react before you get there, it's not so traumatic when you actually turn it down.

I would say that it can't hurt to try.  You may just end up learning a whole lot about yourself in the process.

Mary

I havn't heard of group sessions before...but it sounds like they worked for you! I'm going to look into it, I think. Because you're right, it won't hurt to try.

Dear Mary:

I tried self-hypnosis back when I was in my thirties (I'm 58 now), and I've been changed, ever since.  My hypnotherapist told me to say "I love me" over and over again while in a trance for 15 minutes, twice a day.  I did this for six months, feeling like nothing was happening, when one day, I felt totally different about myself - like I had been reborn!  I loved myself for the first time, and felt uplifted from within!  I've been that way ever since! 

I've had to learn to love my body image separately, as well as my sexuality, for those I still hated!  But I've gotten that from OA recovery!  God helps me to love my body as it is - even though it's far from perfect, right now.  I am 5 foot1/2 inch tall, and currently weigh 242 pounds, so I have a long way to go before I reach 110 pounds and wear a size 8. 

I respect myself, too, for what I've accomplished in recovery in Overeaters Anonymous.  My second husband used hypnosis for two years straight, then became like he was a totally different person!  He went from being weak and wimpy to strong and confident!  I saw him change!  It was amazing!

Good luck to you all,
Denise Phares/highpow

I love what you said about respecting and loving yourself.  Sometimes, we only hear what the world has to say to us, and about us, and we don't end up knowing how we really feel about ourselves.  By relaxing enough to concentrate on our feelings, we become in touch with who we truly are inside and what we mean to ourselves.  I know for me, I wasn't able to keep off one single pound until I learned to love and respect myself. 

Oh, good news about size 8.  They've made the sizes bigger now so you could be in a size 8 at around 150 pounds.  Hah, they just saved you forty pounds you don't have to lose!

Mary

You said "By relaxing enough to concentrate on our feelings, we become in touch with who we truly are inside and what we mean to ourselves.  I know for me, I wasn't able to keep off one single pound until I learned to love and respect myself. "   SO TRUE SO TRUE!!!  I could not lose weight and reach my goal until I finally started to love myself enough to give a hoot and take care of me.  I still have work to do on loving and respecting myself but I'm so much better than I was before...! 

I went with a friend many many years ago.....it didn't work for either of us.....I think I'm just resistant or afraid of the whole process so I didn't fully allow myself to do it.