What is hypnosis?

Hypnosis is a relaxed state of concentration, a tuning out of everyday stimuli such as you do when you become totally focused in a movie theater, or with a good book, or when you are driving. 

For at least 6,000 years hypnosis has been used as a powerful healing tool.  This was documented by formal studies by British and French researchers in the mid-1800’s, and accepted by the American Medical Association in 1958.

Until recently it was assumed that it was almost like sleep, and that the mind was somehow unconscious.  However, recent research reported in the Scientific American journal  revealed that “ Under hypnosis, subjects do not behave passively like robots, but instead become very active problem-solvers who, in this relaxed state (facilitated by a trained hynotist) use their practical knowledge to resolve issues and meet goals in their life.”

When the brain is fully awake it is in the beta state.  That dreamy state you feel as you begin to drift off to sleep and as you begin to come out of sleep in the morning is called the alpha state.  Your deep sleep is in the delta and then theta state.  Brain scans done on people in hypnosis show they are in the alpha state, that very pleasant, relaxed state when the mind is open to visualizations and creating rich sensory experiences.  The more real the experience becomes in this state, the more effect it will have on your behavior when you are fully awake.  A study at McMaster University using PET scans of people in hypnosis showed that people’s brains registered the same type of response as if the event had actually occurred.  That is why you can mentally practice certain behaviors in your mind and have it feel comfortable when you do it in your daily life.  In this way your positive changes can become easy and natural.

Hypnotherapy has remained a well-kept weight loss secret.  An article in O Magazine states:  “When it comes to losing weight and keeping it off, a winning combination is hypnosis and cognitive-behavioral therapy. Which helps revamp counterproductive thoughts and behaviors.  Clients who learn both lose twice as much weight without falling into the dieter’s lose-some, regain-more trap.  You’ve already tried cognitive behavioral therapy if you have kept a food diary.”

The combination of hypnosis with behavioral techniques for weight management has been documented in many professional journals.  The Journal of Clinical Psychology reported on a study that showed that hypnosis clients not only lost twice as much weight as those who didn’t use hypnosis, but also showed additional weight loss at 8-month and two year follow-ups.