How can Hypno-Psychotherapy help with Weight Issues?

For 95-99% of our history, humanity has suffered the shortage of food so regularly that obesity or being overweight has neither been common or possible . Western society has witnessed a dramatic increase in obesity over the past few generations and the nature and cause of that obesity can vary from individual to individual. By seeking to work with the individual client rather than imposing an alien regime on them, integrative therapists have an increased chance of successfully addressing the individual cause of obesity.

In the United Kingdom, the National Health Service defines obesity in the following way:

“The term obese describes a person who's very overweight, with a lot of body fat.”

If a person consumes more calories (energy) in food or drink than they burn off through physical activity, over time their body with store the surplus energy as fat. This excess fat will have a negative impact on their health and is frequently a cause for emotional distress in overweight clients.

Foods rich in calorific fat and sugar, once a luxury, are now ubiquitous in Western society. This availability of high energy food is relevant, because although we are programmed to seek energy reserves for times of hardship, those times rarely occur in modern society. In part, they have been replaced by day to day stresses eliciting emotional reactions that can trigger a comfort response to the consumption of food. The physiological `reward’ gained from consuming calorific food features in the relationship that overweight clients have with eating. Indeed, it is often a key element in their struggle to maintain a healthy weight. Being overweight can be a symptom of neurological, socioeconomic and psychological factors, the impact of which can vary between clients. 

A therapist should understand that some clients will be fighting their body’s innate ability to retain fat for longer than others. This genetic factor can enhance hormonal changes prompting physical sensations of hunger when excess weight is shed.

Clients seeking to get to a healthier weight will most likely have experienced “failure” in a range of approaches and programmes before they come to a hypno-psychotherapist. The hypnotherapeutic approach will be novel and unique for to each client, rather than shoe-horning them into a programme designed to appeal to many people.

Obesity can develop for many reasons and yet a clear understanding of the client’s relationship with eating is a critical first step toward successful weight loss. Whether excess food is being consumed in a social setting, habitually without thought or as a means of emotional release, working with the client hypnotically in order to realign their experience of food and frequency of eating is an approach which many people have benefitted from over the years.