HABITS
Potential clients frequently request hypnosis to assist them in altering problematic habitual behaviors. Two of the most common behavioral issues involve smoking cessation and weight loss/control issues.
All of you have seen advertisements for large group sessions in a hotel ballroom offered by hypnotists, ususally promising spectacular results from a few hours of brief hypnosis. Do these events actually help people change? Sometimes, yes! They frequently provide a relaxing experience. I occasionally hear of people who benefit from them. The main problem I see is that there is no personal relationship established, the client may not have any regular access to the person, and the hypnotist is using a powerful method that occasionally impacts more than just the desired behaviors related to smoking or weight management.
I see the need in both situations to work on the relationship the client has with the 'substance' involved in the the habit—nicotine or food. In my experience, I can work successfully with smokers in a shorter time frame than with those who have significant weight issues. Both habits usually involve psychological issues, but to me these issues are more imbedded and harder to deal with in eating and weight management issues. The psychological part of the equation can deal with causative and reactive effects.
My general approach to smoking cessation is three hypnosis sessions within a 10-day period, optionally followed by one or two 'tune-up' sessions spaced over the next 30 days.
My approach to weight control issues is more open-ended, and is determined by a combination of factors including level of client motivation, reasons for wanting to lose weight, level of environmental support for the attitudinal and behavioral changes, history of the person's relationship with food and weight, and others.
Please call me with any questions you may have about my work with habits.