Today, eating disorders such as Anorexia and Bulimia are running rapid. If a person intentionally starves him or herself yet believes they are overweight, they could very well be suffering from Anorexia Nervosa, which is a severe emotional disorder that needs serious intervention. With this, the diet is drastically restricted, coupled by excessive exercise. The result is dangerous weight loss that can cause serious damage to the body to include death.
Bulimia is a form of Anorexia, which is characterized by misuse of laxatives, diuretics, enemas, and/or vomiting to rid the body of food consumed during binge eating. In both cases, the body is put at great medical risk. The problem is that both Anorexia and Bulimia are not just serious but difficult to treat. In addition to the body needing intervention, the mind also needs intervention since the individual with the eating disorder sees him or herself as fat although they could easily be 50% of their normal weight.
These eating disorders typically begin in adolescents, which are seen most often around time of puberty. However, although rare, eating disorders can affect people over the age of 40, and again, both males and females although girls are in the highest risk category. If you have a child and you begin to notice things like infrequent or stopped menstrual cycle, dry skin, thinning hair, cold and/or swollen feet, or a bloated stomach while watching drastic weight loss, then you need to pay attention.
The psychological signs generally involve poor judgment, problem with memory and/or concentration, a distorted perception of the body, denial, obsessive-compulsive behavior, and depression; these could well be indications that an eating disorder is a problem. Treating eating disorders is a long process that addresses both physical and psychological. Many of the traditional treatment options include cognitive and behavioral therapy, antidepressants, and herbs. However, because the mind is involved, hypnosis has also been proven very beneficial for some people suffering from Anorexia or Bulimia.
Although the exact cause of Anorexia and Bulimia remains unknown, most experts believe it has to do with the individual trying to gain control over their life. For this reason, you see young girls who are trying to fit into school, dating, or coming from a difficult home life turning to an eating disorder to gain some type of semblance in their life. With hypnosis, the subconscious mind can be reached and taught to change the normal pattern of thinking. By working with a reputable and licensed hypnotherapist, the subconscious can receive positive suggestions that relate to things beyond the eating disorder.
Although that will be the primary reason for seeking hypnosis, the underlying issues that lead to the eating disorder in the first place are addressed. In this case, the depression and cause of depression is uncovered. The individual learns self-confidence, healthy control, and other positive tools that can be used to conquer the battle with Anorexia or Bulimia. Keep in mind that along with hypnosis, the individual with the eating disorder will need ongoing love and support by family and friends. By creating a positive environment, recovery is possible. When choosing the right hypnotherapist, you want someone who also believes and supports in the individual receiving other treatment and medication.
These factors together will provide the best chance for success. In fact, many medical doctors are now adding hypnosis to their practice for this very reason. Over the years, studies have shown that in some cases, such as severe eating disorders, the combination of traditional medical care with hypnosis greatly improves the resolution.
I have had numerous articles published lately and many people have contacted me to ask more about how treatment plans are decided upon for clients. Most of these individuals have been suffering form panic attacks or phobias. So I have addressed the core of the question here for all to read, and it is my sincere desire that this helps anyone considering hypnotherapy or psychotherapy as a treatment for their problems to understand just how the qualified and experienced professional may proceed (or in my case, will proceed).
Unless presenting with a need for simple habit breaking including smoking, weight control in some cases, driving test/exam nerves, help with general confidence and public speaking etc, most people need some form of analytical therapy at the commencement of their treatment in order to ensure that any route causes no matter how slight or weak they may be, are found and resolved before proceeding on to ensure future success for the client.
It’s a bit like looking for the splinter in the finger and if it is still hanging in there, remove it first before applying the antiseptic cream and plaster or whatever.
The average duration of treatment sessions is six, although much depends upon the style of working that is most effective for the client, balanced with which style of working is best to resolve the particular problem they have. This is where thorough training in a multimodality approach and practical experience of many types of problem with many types of client is essential to the therapist being sufficient to help in most cases. It’s a bit like a mechanic having a large tool box full of different and specialist tools. He/she will use the appropriate tool for the job, or part of the job being tackled at that time and so be able to effectively work through to a successful conclusion for the job in hand. If on the other hand, the only tool in their tool box is a hammer, they will tend to treat everything like a nail (all situations receiving the same rigid treatment pattern).
I, along with many of my colleagues, uses a multi-tool (multi-therapeutic technique) type approach and this allows for a very thorough yet very flexible way of working with clients no matter what their problem and no matter what their personality type, fears, concerns, etc. People come in all types, shapes and sizes, and their personality type, concerns and fears, likes and dislikes, coupled with ‘what works best for them’ dictates the way forward. Even then, the way forward can not be too rigid, as mid stream corrections in direction, speed, attitude, etc might be required in order to keep on the best course for resolution of cause and effective removal of symptoms. Sometimes it’s like lateral thinking. That is to say, that to get from A to B, you must first go to G, then to Y, then to D, and finally from there to B. Sometimes the most direct route is best. Sometimes the client does not feel comfortable with this direct approach, and more importantly, their subconscious mind does not feel inclined to go this route. When the subconscious mind is resisting one approach, we would be very foolish to continue with this route, as the powerful subconscious mind will always win out in the end. Therefore the experienced therapist will change tack, or use another tool of you will, in order to continue with effective treatment.
The powerful subconscious mind is truly a wonderful and amazing thing. It is so powerful that will-power will never overcome it. Direct assault on it’s deeply help core values will only produce further problems for the client, and if we confront their belief system head-on, we are in for many extra sessions of repair work before we can proceed (if we can proceed at all with this therapeutic relationship).
To enlighten readers further, the tools I would recommend are in your therapist’s tool box might consist of:
Hypnoanalysis (including direct regression to cause, free association, parts therapy) Suggestion Therapy (including metaphor) Neuro-Linguistic Programming Gestalt Therapy Personality Profiling and Balancing Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) (a brief version of psychotherapy)
Also many good therapists are also armed with further and less main-stream technoiques which may prove to be very useful on occassion:
Past Life Regression Therapy Shamanic Journeying Energy Fields Therapy* Emotional Freedom Technique* Deep Relaxation Therapy Self-Hypnosis Training
*Variations and adaptations of Kinesiology type techniques
Again, your good therapist will be able to explain all of these to you, and some will use one more than the others which is fine as long as that suits you and your needs.
I do hope this has all helped in your better understanding of the fascinating world of hypnosis and psychotherapy.
I hold free workshops to help people to understand the uses of the above therapies on an ad-hoc basis. If you would like to know more please email me at alancrisp@yourtruth.co.uk or telephone 020 8658 4290.
Alan Crisp Clinical Hypnotherapist Beckenham, Kent
About the Author
Alan Crisp is a Clinical Hypnotherapist & Psychotherapist with consulting rooms and a bust practice in Beckenham, Kent. He specialises in all sstress and anxiety related conditions and offers a free initial consultation without obligation.
The history of hypnosis and hypnotherapy as a powerful healing tool for the benefit of mankind
The use of hypnosis as a therapeutic tool is as old as man himself. As far as can be traced back through time, we can find records of hypnosis being used to heal and to make change. Hypnosis has been used under many different names down through the centuries and the use of hypnosis for healing can be traced back to around 3000 BC in Egypt. Both the new and old testaments of the Bible speak of what could be deemed to be hypnosis, and the ancient Greeks and Romans had sleep temples where those seeking healing would be put into a trance like sleep. Their dreams, would be interpreted by the priests. By rhythmic drumming and monotonous chanting together with eye fixation, the Shaman of today can still produce catalepsy of the body and this helps to give the shaman the appearance of having magical powers just as they have done for centuries. Much of what has been done in the past by the village witchdoctor, shaman or wise woman, can be attributed to the fostering of a strong belief, conviction, expectation and imagination in the one being healed, and the chanting and singing often takes the form of what we would term as suggestion. After all, if the most powerful and magic person you know tells you will become well, you are very likely to do just that. Of course in many cases where such an individual administered to a sick person they would have recovered eventually anyway and this intervention just speeded up the healing process. It has long been believed by many healers that body, thoughts and emotions can influence one another. Therefore it is possible to influence a physical sickness by working on and realizing particular emotions and by changing thoughts and behavioural patterns. The Romans said ‘MENS SANA IN CORPORE SANO’, healthy mind in healthy body. This saying seems to confirm that for many centuries it has been believed that physical and emotional well-being have an effect on one another. To put this in perspective, only has to consider how our health declines after periods of stress or as a consequence of radical events. The division between body and mind in medicine is something that only took place around 1750, with the scientific developments from Newton. Since then the mind and spirit have been considered to be under the jurisdiction of the church and the body under the jurisdiction of science. This is also the reason why all other kinds of medicine see the human being as a whole consisting of body, mind and soul. Traumatic experiences are not only stored on an emotional level but also on the physical level. The emotional charge of the different traumas can influence our immune system and health conditions. Through processing old traumas and the emotional charges that are connected to a certain sickness it is possible to find resources inside of us that could help us start the healing process. Modern hypnosis began with Anton Mesmer (1734 - 1815) in the 18th Century. Mesmer was a medical graduate from the famed medical school of Vienna and after studying as a Jesuit priest, he became interested in magnetism. Mesmer became Europe’s foremost expert at magnetic healing, where magnets where passed over the body to effect a healing. His results where fabulous and so he became very famous. Mesmer believed all living things contained a kind of magnetic ‘fluid’ and if a person had enough of this fluid, they would be healthy. This is where the term ‘Animal Magnetism’ comes from. Mesmer forgot his magnets one day and so just made passes over the patient with his hands and was surprised to find that they got better. From there on, he thought he had sufficient magnetic fluid in himself top effect the cures.
James Braid (1795-1860) coined the terms ‘hypnotism’ and ‘hypnosis, in 1843. He was a Scottish surgeon working in Manchester. He found that some people could go into a trance if there eyes where fixated on a bright object like a pocket watch for instance. He believed that a neurological process was involved and that the process could be very useful when no organic origin could be found for a persons disorder.
James Esdaile (1808-1859) another Scottish surgeon working in India would use ey fixation to prepare a patient for surgery and slow sweeping motions, putting them into a deep hypnotic sleep, causing full amnesia throughout the body.
James Braid and James Esdaile where among the first who could be called ’scientific’ in their research and use of hypnosis. These pioneers removed hypnosis from the realms of ‘mysticism’, and started experimenting with what could really be done with it to help people with their disorders. Other scientific pioneers include, Liebeault, Bernheim, Brewer and Freud. Unfortunately the great man himself, Freud, was responsible for hypnotherapy being shelved by many for some time when he abandoned it’s use.
Amongst those individuals who have been fundamental to the current view of hypnosis are: Milton Erikson, Ormond McGill, Charles Tebbetts and Dave Elman.
Ormond McGill was, it is true a stage hypnotist, but he preserved the public interest in hypnosis, but then the great Charles Tebbetts was involved in stage hypnosis in the early part of his career, but these where different times to those we live in today and the stage hypnosis would prove to engender a desire to know more about this curious art and therefore bring many of the people who moved the therapeutic use of hypnotherapy forward through the last (20th) century.
Dave Elman brought some measure of acceptance to hypnosis from the medical profession in the USA when the Council on Medical health of the American Medical Association accepted the use of hypnotherapy in 1958.
Probably the most important contributor to the acceptance of hypnotherapy as both an art and a science, was the grandfather of hypnotherapy - Dr Milton Erikson. Dr Erikson was a psychiatrist and hypnotherapist with outstanding professional credentials and because of his solid medical background he had credibility within the medical profession. Other people worthy of note for their contribution to the advancement of hypnotherapy as a healing art and as a science in the 20th century are: Rosen, Abramson, Menninger, Shenek, Magonet, Wolberg, LeCron, Bordeaux, Wetzenhoffer, Erwin and Simonton, who continues to do amazing things with cancer patients using mental imagery and focusing on beliefs and belief systems amongst other things.
By Alan Crisp Clinical Hypnotherapist DHP GQHP MASC MBIH LNCP GHR Reg
About the Author
Alan Crisp DHP is a Clinical Hypnotherapist with a busy practice in Beckenham, Kent UK. He can be contacted on 020 8658 4290 or atalancrisp@yourtruth.co.uk. His website is found at www.yourtruth.co.uk
