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.