Someone drew my focus on a write-up published a year ago in a respected national newspaper. It absolutely was exactly about a heavy woman who lost 8 stone having a virtual gastric band fitted under hypnosis. Just what a success story for hypnotherapy! Or is it?
Individuals are becoming increasingly alert to the virtual gastric band. Clients increasingly enquire about virtual gastric band treatment as opposed to hypnotherapy for weight loss. They try this in the belief that their problem can be solved by one session of hypnotherapy and that no subsequent effort on the part is required. They believe, or hope, that the virtual gastric band is a secret wand which will simply make their weight problem disappear. If only it were that simple.
They say, don't they, that there's no such thing as bad publicity. I've never believed that to be true. Stories which proclaim the success of hypnotherapy are always welcome - but only if they're credible.
I'd like to start with saying that I'm quite prepared to think that the woman in this article did indeed lose lots of weight insurance. But this article causes it to be pretty clear that this is not accomplished by virtual gastric band suggestions alone but by adopting the type of radical liquid-through-to-solids diet which will be adopted by an individual who had a genuine gastric band fitted. The article also says that she'd ten sessions of hypnotherapy and that the price of treatment was £270. However I'd a go through the website of the practitioner in question. He charges £270 for three sessions, not ten. In other words, his fees are £90 per session. If the woman had ten sessions then that would cost her £900. If you look at a number of the readers' comments on this article you will see that the newest comment hits the nail on the head. The woman lost weight because she adopted a radical diet, not because of some virtual "magic-wand" ;.And when she returns to a "normal" diet, the length of time will the weight stay off for? Probably not very long.
How are these treatments supposed to work? Hypnosis will make the human body do some amazing things. Operations can be carried out using only hypnosis as anaesthetic. It is quite conceivable that under hypnosis a person might be built to feel as if an operation had been performed and a gastric band had been fitted. But once the hypnosis is terminated the client is not left with a belly which has somehow been shrunk by hypnosis. They could be told that they will feel as if a gastric band has been fitted. But how can they understand what which in fact feels as though if they've never actually had the operation?
In essence, then, the client is told that their stomach is not as big as it used to be. It is possible that the highly suggestible client might accept that suggestion and lose weight. But how? By suddenly feeling sick when "too much" food has been eaten? By being faced with an option between feeling sickness and discomfort on the one hand and hunger on another? But folks who are suggestible enough to simply accept an indicator like which are also ideal subjects of conventional hypnotherapy weight reduction treatments. For such people the elaborate hoax of a non-existent surgical operation is not really required.
When I first found out about virtual gastric band treatments I knew that I would never offer such treatments because nothing that is in relation to a total lie can ever succeed in the long-term. Reality will always win out.
As far as I'm aware, virtual gastric band treatments haven't been scientifically scrutinized or tested. I are finding no mention of virtual gastric band treatments in scientific publications such as for example Contemporary Hypnosis or the European Journal of Clinical Hypnosis. There might, therefore, be dangers in the therapy which have not yet come to light. Yet I suspect that the key problem is sheer ineffectiveness. Many of my own, personal clients experienced virtual gastric band treatments and are finding them to be both highly expensive and totally ineffective.
By the end of the afternoon, you will find no magic wands. There is one way, and one way only, to accomplish permanent and lasting weight reduction - by making lasting changes to diet and / or exercise regime.
Shortcuts and magical solutions such as the virtual gastric band are simply gimmicks. The only thing that your virtual gastric band is guaranteed to produce lighter can be your purse or your wallet!
