Thoughts on a Complimentarty Procedure and Hypnosis

She looks in the mirror. It hides nothing, revealing all. There is the skin-tight spandex hugging the body like a grape. Sometimes it conceals and pushes the body, accommodating a few weaknesses. But other than that, she might as well be standing in public naked. At times, she wishes there were no mirrors, at others she is grateful for a few moments of unadulterated grace that she see before her. These are fleeting, though. And then reality sets in, her reality, the one that says she is overweight, clumsy, unappealing to anyone other than the marketers for the candy companies. She sees the pounds in their gruesome honesty or so she thinks. Now the truth be told, she has lost a lot of weight, but more still needs to come off before she can even see a change.

This seems to be somewhat how several of my weight loss clients view themselves. In fact it is exactly (though in my words) how one client described her weight-issues. As hypnotist, very often we get the people who have tried just about everything and are feeling quite a bit desperate to loss the weight. Though intelligently we all know the weight is not going to just melt off (if only we could make that happen), there they sit in my chair hoping that hypnosis will be the answer. And for many it really seems to help. The problem, as I see it, is that it takes awhile. Most people seem to want to lose five pounds a week, not one.

So, I have begun to wonder, for some, if it would be good to combine something like lap band surgery with hypnosis. According to Journey Lite, a nationwide network of lap band surgical facilities and surgeons who specialize in this, lap band procedures reduce the stomach capacity and restrict the amount of food that can be consumed. It helps by giving clients a feeling of fullness with less food, staving off hunger. It is less invasive than other surgeries because it only requires a few tiny incisions. A micro-camera is inserted along with the lap band so that the surgeon can tell where to put it. The band is then fastened around the upper stomach to create new, smaller stomach pouch. Thus, less room to hold food.

Also, the surgery is reversible. The Journey Lite site offers more information on this as well as how to tell if someone should or should not consider being a candidate for this procedure, what to expect, and options for financing it (remember at a certain point, a client can deduct weight loss expenses from their taxes provided they have a physician who has recommended weight loss to improve health).

Hypnosis would go with this really well. It could help with the healing process, and the brain-shift from being over weight to accepting the weight loss. Hypnosis could help achieve the self-image that goes with the new body. It would also be beneficial in making the lifestyle changes involved - healthier eating, exercise, and the like.

Have any of you worked with clients who have undergone this procedure?


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