So I tried hypnotherapy last week. I’ve been struggling with weight loss for many years and just can’t seem to get my act in gear. I continually have 20+ pounds to lose and always fall to food for therapy when it comes to being sad, bored, angry… whatever. Lately, I’ve finally commited to some exercise, which is great, but I keep sabotaging my efforts by overeating! So, as I was chatting with my counselor/therapist recently, I noticed he had all these hypnotherapy certifications on his office wall. I decided to give it a shot to see if it could curb my bad habits, and he agreed to give it a shot.
So last week I had my first session. It was really interesting. I guess I expected to not remember anything afterward, but I remembered all of it. Now they say hypnosis can only work if you WANT to be hypnotized, and I did. I also learned a lot of visualization techniques through yoga and meditation instruction in the past, so when the doc took me through a 10-step immersion into the hypnotic state, I visualized dropping from one floor to the next on an elevator, as he instructed. Then the door opened, and I was in my “happy place” that we’d rehearsed the week before. The place I feel calm, stress free, secure… for me, it’s oceanfront, sitting on a white Key West-style patio on a wicker chair with ottoman, looking out at the sun reflecting off the water. There is a slight breeze and I am alone, totally at peace.
So I’m in my happy place and the doc starts talking to me about food addiction. Basically using a calm and reassuring voice to tell me that I need a coping mechanism that isn’t detrimental to my health. That I will have a dream in the coming week to give me an idea on what I need to replace the harmful behavior with. He starts talking about the acorn that becomes the mighty oak, strong and confident, only soaking up the nutrients it needs and no more. There are a lot of these types of stories, some seem cliche and make me want to giggle, but I don’t. He tells me that when I go to binge again I will mentally say “enough” when I’ve had enough…
The session was interesting. I got emotional during some parts of it, kept my eyes closed and kept visualizing the things he asked me to. When we were done, I felt peaceful and he told me (for the 2nd time) that I was “gifted” at this. I’m not sure what in the world that means, except that I didn’t fight the experience. I have to be honest, I was a little disappointed that I remembered everything – I was imagining it would be like waking up from a long sleep. But no.
So its been a week. I haven’t had that dream yet – the one that gives me advice on how to cope in a more healthful way – as a matter of fact, the only dream I had contained a mystery figure that called me “well fed” as I walked by (I have NO IDEA what the heck that meant but it made me laugh when I woke up). I’ve had a few situations in the past week where I overindulged, but on the whole was pretty controlled (there was no magic voice in my head that said “enough” during those binges, by the way). I’m wondering if the reason I wasn’t as bad as usual is simply because I talked about the topic at length with a therapist, or if it was the hypnosis. Tomorrow night is my next session.
Like I said, I’m totally open to this type of therapy and believes it works for people, but wondering if it’s going to work on me. I wish I knew some people who had tried this to see what their experience was and to see if mine was typical. Before I wrote this blog tonight I looked on Google for images of hypnotherapy to include in the post and just found all those cheesy shots you see of masses of people in church falling to the ground. Not exactly my experience.
Anyway, I guess we’ll see what happens tomorrow night. I’m sure this isn’t a one shot deal, where you do it once and you’re “cured.” I guess I just expected something a little different. Curious…
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