I have recently looked into hypnosis to deal with binge eating and weight loss. They claim to control binges and cravings. Could this possibly be true. I have had a problem with binge eating for 4 years. – Kate
Dear Kate:
There is no magic cure. If there was a specific treatment for cravings and/or binge eating someone would be very wealthy and you and I would know about it! Cravings and behaviors arise from within each of us. Additionally, we have different triggers and meanings associated with food. What triggers you to eat may not be my specific trigger. I think it is safe to suggest that what all triggers have in common is stress, anxiety, and/or a “compulsion” to cease what we are feeling and enter a new reality.
Hypnosis can be a very positive tool. It is not mere quackery or a humanistic tool to redefine any higher power. For example, I think prayer is a form of hypnosis. When we take the time to sit down, breathe, relax, and choose what we are going to focus upon we are quieting the storm within us.
That said, research indicates that persons utilizing hypnosis lose no more than persons committed to other regimes. Hypnosis is not a one time treatment. Participants in various studies had the most positive results with weight if (1) they practiced the various techniques/scripts and (2) participated in refresher sessions with a licensed hypnosis provider.
The biggest benefit to hypnosis is teaching yourself to relax. The script assists the person in recognizing the triggers to the stress response and the desire to eat, to welcome the trigger, and choose to be present with the feeling instead of trying to “rid” it or “stuff it”.
When the body remains in a relaxed state with deep breathing and focus we AVOID the fight-or-flight response that may cause acetylcholine and other chemicals to stir in our bodies. It is the fight-or-flight response, left unchecked, that whispers and convinces us that only the use of food, the chemical altering of this state of feeling, can save us.
No tool can replace self-discipline, self-control, and the desire for instant gratification. However, there certainly is a place for meditation, hypnosis, and self-discovery. You do not need to pay large sums of money to learn a mantra of “you do not want chocolate or ice cream” to face what is true. What is true is that we do not say “No” enough and for the right reasons to our own minds.
Avoid programs that encourage you there is a way to make the food behave and no longer end up in your house, on your plate, or in your mouth. Seek meditation and peace and relaxation so that you can discover that it is not the food that needs to behave but rather each of us.
Leanne
Kate:
I would like to add that regardless of the different methods we may utilize to help us find freedom from our issues, at the end of the day we’ve got to come to a place where we admit to ourselves that our best efforts at controlling our obsession haven’t gotten us anywhere. We have to dig deep and find the void that we’re using our relationship with food to fill – be it comfort, peace, love, attention, etc. And we’ve got to ask God to show us how to fill that void in a way that allows us to live in freedom. I wish you blessings on your journey…
Constance