Hypnotic Band Weight Loss
Hypno-Band Hypnotherapy Manchester: If you are considering using hypnotic band methods to lose or manage your weight, please read the following article which appeared in the Autumn Edition of the National College Student and Alumni Guild E-Journal
Don’t get on the gastric bandwagon
By: Shaun Brookhouse, MA, FNSHP(Hon)
I don’t know about you, but it seems to me that you cannot turn around, read a newspaper or watch a human interest story on television without seeing some-thing on the Hypno-Band, or Hypnotic Gastric Band and how it is revolutionising weight management for people who have tried to lose weight for years. Of course, when something gets positive press, some enterprising folk will at-tempt to cash in on it by selling courses for practitioners to learn these ―secret or ―unique techniques, at a very hefty price tag. But of course, you will recoup your money quickly, especially if you charge £1000 for four sessions of therapy. I would like to ask you all not to jump on the Gastric Bandwagon.
First, let us consider the process itself. One is hypnotised to believe that they are actually experiencing the surgery itself. Okay it is not impossible to convince the unconscious of a number of things, but one could ask is it ethical to pretty much lie to one’s client? Also, in many ways this is simple aversion therapy, which had popularity in the 1960s and 1970s but has been pretty much abandoned due to the likelihood of relapse when the stimulus causing the aversion is removed. In the case of gastric band, clients should be aware that if they received the surgical treatment the band would eventually be removed and that they would be required to maintain their change in eating without the band. The same must therefore be true of the hypno-band. However, in the reports of its use very little is said about the practitioner teaching the client about changing the client’s relationship with food or healthy eating or providing nutritional advice (which the vast majority of hypnotists/hypnotherapists are not qualified to give). So in effect, this procedure requires the client to maintain any change on their own without qualified guidance to assist them. Like with so many diet programmes, the client is encouraged that they cannot maintain the change without the external programme, so therefore one either needs to keep the hypnotic band on for life or attend more therapy or fail
Second, much has been made in the media about how much weight is lost by clients, which of course may well be true, but it may also be true that the clients utilised other approaches in order to augment, or even override the hypno-band procedure. Also, there are no legitimate long term studies as to how effective this treatment’s efficacy. At best the information in the media is anecdotal, at worst the most disgusting of self promotion which gives false hope to people who are desperate to lose weight but find it difficult to maintain. I say maintain, because even utilising will-power alone, most people can lose a few pounds by simple, short term approaches to weight loss, be that crash dieting or a bit of extra exercise.
The third point I would like to make is that this approach not only gives false hope to clients but also to practitioners. With the cur-rent economic climate, it is natural that practitioners are concerned about their ability to earn a sustainable income in order to survive as a practitioner. When a practitioner is faced with this, it is all too easy for unscrupulous persons to offer the emperor an impressive pair of shoes to go with his new outfit. Some persons ask for a license fee to be paid for this revolutionary approach which you have to write in to get, thus creating a database for the organisation involved whether you eventually pay for a license or not. Others do not bother with a license fee and just charge on the inexpensive side £340 for a workshop, script and marketing advice (which, based on the site I found this information on, must include the saturation of your site with testimonials referring to you as being Amazing, and what you do as a Miracle). Still others go for the big ask of any-where between £1600-£3000 for your training course (often training of no more than a few days) which will equip you for a £100K potential income to entice therapist to come on board.
Quite frankly this is non-sense, in order to earn these fees, you need to charge between £200-£500 per session which in most practitioners experience is not feasible or desirable as we got into this profession to help people and not fleece them. There are no quick fixes for our clients, and sadly there are no quick fixes for therapists as well. It should also be noted that for persons that undertake the surgical option, patients need to already be losing some weight as a means of showing willingness to change. There is no such requirements for those who undertake the hypnotic band option.
My final point is that for weight management, the first thing clients need to do is to reconsider their relationship with food. This is not an easy or short term thing, as this relationship has been in development for a number of years if not indeed all of their lives. Then clients need to burn off more calories than they ingest. It is as simple and as complicated as that. By using hypno-psychotherapy as a vehicle for this change in relationship is a very effective way for clients to have a healthy relationship with food, which will enable clients to achieve a weight that they are most comfortable with.
Before consulting a “Hypno-Band” practitioner, ask him/her to point you in the direction of verifiable, independent research showing that this technique is effective. This does not mean was it in the newspaper, but was it in a professional peer reviewed journal. My bet is that they will not be able to cite a single verifiable reference to validate the claims made in their marketing.
Brookhouse Hypnotherapy Manchester has been helping people just like you to make significant improvements in order to live a happier and more fulfilling life. If you would like more information, please contact me at enquiries@hypnomanchester.co.uk or call 0161 881 1677 for an appointment in Manchester or simply to find out more about clinical hypnosis.
Brookhouse Hypnotherapy
