©
Pamela Michael Chilton, C.Ht.
Tyra wanted her money back. “I am sorry to tell you,” she said, “the hypnosis did not work. But the diet I went on did.”
I smiled and congratulated her. I then handed her the form she’d filled out in her first session and asked her to read aloud what she’d written, which was: “I know I could lose weight if I could just stick to a diet, any diet. I’ve tried them all. I am hoping hypnosis will help me stick with a diet so I can fit into size 9 jeans.”
“Notice,” I said to her, “I listed the diets you said you’d failed on. Is the one you just lost weight with on the list?” Tyra nodded without looking up. I handed her my notes of her session saying, “The hypnosis in that session was for sticking to a healthy diet of your choice. I recorded the hypnosis and asked you to play the recording once a day until your next session. When you came back, you reported your eating was worse after our session, so you didn’t play the recording. We tested for inner resistance with NMR and found a block to weight loss because of anger at men and rebellion against your mother who tried to control your eating when you were a teenager.”
“Oh,
that’s right,” Tyra agreed, “I remember how emotional the regression was
in that session and my eating got even worse after that, so I stopped coming
in.”
Now I nodded. “Yes, I called you after a month and asked how you were doing.”
“And
I told you horrible,” she said. “I’d
tried to diet again and it made me crazy. Everyone
around me was begging me to stop dieting. You
reminded me you’d warned me things might get worse with the hypnotherapy
before they got better but when we got through with the regression work I’d be
able to stick to a diet and feel good about myself at the same time.
Which, come to think of it,” she added, “is exactly what happened.”
I picked up the notes of her last session. “I see here,” I said, “on your last session we found with NMR your resistance to losing weight was gone. I asked you to tell me what you wanted me to tell you in hypnosis about eating and exercise. You told me the foods you wanted to eat, the ones you didn’t, and that you wanted to think of the gym as your fun time. Is this that list?”
“Oh, my gosh!” she exclaimed. “That’s right. That’s exactly what my diet is. And every time I go to the gym I say to people, ‘this is my fun time’. I remember now. You said I’d eat the exact right amount of food for me and turn every calorie into pure energy. You said I’d fit into size 9 jeans so quickly I’d amaze everyone, including myself.”
I asked if she still wanted her money back. She shook her head sheepishly and said, “I so apologize. My friend just told me the other day she’d never seen me stick to a diet or going to a gym before and asked what I did differently this time. I said ‘nothing, it just happened’. I really didn’t put two and two together. The hypnosis did work.”
Tyra’s story is not unusual. People want to believe hypnosis is magic. It isn’t. It’s real, it’s powerful, and it works when it’s used in a real way. Here are guidelines that will help.
To that end, professional hypnotists and hypnotherapists make recordings of sessions and counsel their clients on which recordings to listen to at home and how often. Paying attention to that counsel can greatly accelerate the speed with which you reach your goals.
This page and all contents are copyright by Pamela Chilton 2001.
All Rights Reserved.
