Hypno Weightloss
Reporter: Rodney Lohse
Emma Everleigh-Anderton has lived a full life --
well at least she thinks she has. The thirty six year old has done what many
find impossible -- lost weight and kept it off by literally thinking herself
thin. Using hypnotism to make herself think she had a gastric lap band --
surgery that shrinks the size of your stomach -- she lost 25 kilograms in 6
months "The gastro band surgery is part of a bigger process -- four
sessions -- but you go into some quite clinical environment and I don't know
how it works - there are sounds, smells and you're led to believe you're in a
hospital environment-- so you're mind can be completely relaxed and open into
believe you're having the gastric band", Emma said.
The mother of two dropped from a size 18 to a size
8 and is among the first patients to undergo a treatment called Hypnoband
Therapy. "When we see food if we see the same amount of food on a big
plate as a small plate, if we see it on a small plate and consume the food, we
will feel full. If we see it on a big plate we'll still feel hungry and feel as
if we have missed out", said Antoine Matarasso, a practicing
hypnotherapist and President of the Australian
Hypnotherapists Association.
"All of our actions emanate from our thoughts
and using hypnotherapy we can begin to think differently so we act
differently", Antoine added.
While he cautions hypnotherapy doesn't work for
everyone, he says for some it can be an extremely effective way to lose weight
"No pain, no anaesthetic, no long recuperation time. You get up out of the
chair feeling absolutely great afterwards and that's the start of a really good
weightloss process", Emma said.
Emma underwent four sessions costing $1,700
Australian dollars and the way Emma looks at food changed -- she now eats
healthier and smaller portions. "I jog and that's all part of the process
-- to get motivated, to get out there, get fit. But it's effortless -- I eat
less and I'm less hungry, its fantastic", Emma said.Using hypnotherapy to
reprogram the brain isn't new. Hypnotherapists have successfully weened smokers
off cigarettes; gamblers off the punt and even been used to enhance fertility.
What is new is the use of hypnosis to replicate the outcomes of actual
medical surgery.
