London Hypnotherapy|CBT|NLP Coaching

One of the common questions I get asked about Gastric Band Hypnosis is how can it work? How can something in the mind affect something in the body?

In Western society we commonly think about mind and body as 2 separate systems.  There are historic reasons for this that have permeated through medical science and thinking for thousands of years.   In contrast ancient Eastern Chinese medicine evolved differently and the mind and body have always been seen as being one complete system of circuitry.

Nowadays, modern day neuroscience and research along with advances in MRI brain scanning is providing more and more evidence to validate the effectiveness of hypnosis.

Remember that it’s estimated as much as 90% of our behaviour is carried out on an unconscious level. Hypnosis is receiving constant validation as an effective way to communicate with the unconscious brain. On a conscious level of course you will know that you haven’t actually had the Gastric Band Procedure. However by using powerful guided visualisation techniques, deep suggestions, along with NLP, CBT and your imagination, your unconscious can be programmed to think differently and accept that the stomach size has been reduced.  These suggestions can then be reinforced with hypnotic recordings, which can be played daily for a minimum of 21 days.

The power that the mind has to influence something in the body is also known as the placebo effect. This is where people get benefit from a medical treatment (which is actually only a sugar pill) purely because they think it’s going to help.  So we know that the mind has some remarkable powers over the body.  There are numerous other examples of this throughout

As a Cognitive Hypnotherapist, I also work with my clients to resolve their emotional aspects of their eating problem and this is covered prior to the Gastric Band procedure.  Food during childhood is often given as a reward, or to offer comfort, when actually the purpose of food is to provide fuel for the body.

I will write more about this in a further post shortly.

See it on the news Gastric Band Hypnosis.

Further scientific links to read about hypnosis and the body.

How hypnosis helps the mind control pain in the body?

http://journals.lww.com/rapm/Abstract/2004/11000/Clinical_Hypnosis_Modulates_Functional_Magnetic.8.aspx

A study of 60 women divided into hypnosis and non hypnosis control groups, found that the groups using hypnosis lost an average of 15 pounds, while the non-hypnosis group lost an average of only 6  pounds.

http://psycnet.apa.org/journals/ccp/64/3/517/

One Response to “How can Gastric Band Hypnosis work?”