Using Hypnosis for Weight Loss
The escalation of obesity rates in this country has sparked
a flurry of activity among both serious researchers and
charlatans to discover the perfect weight loss method. A
recent study of four diets revealed that the key to weight
loss success isn't the diet, but how closely you follow it.
Investigators from Tufts-New England Medical Center
(Journal of the American Medical Association, January 2005)
have determined in a study of four popular diets that the
key to successful weight loss is not the diet itself, but
actually following the diet. In this one-year study of 160
overweight adults, the researchers split people into four
diet groups:
· Weight Watchers (low calorie)
· The Zone Diet (low glycemic index)
· The Ornish Diet (low fat)
· The Atkins Diet (low carb)
The conclusion of the investigation was that all of these
diets worked when the participants in the study followed
them. The problem is that less than one in four were able
to stay on their given diet for just this one year.
It should be noted that the hardest diet to follow was
Atkins, followed by the Ornish Diet, but according to the
authors of the study, "no single diet produced satisfactory
adherence rates." Hypnosis has been recognized as a both a
method for helping people to adhere to their diets, and for
re-training the mind to "think" like a lean person, in
order to be able to give up dieting completely and to
develop healthy eating habits that parallel the eating
habits of lean people.
That being said, wild and exaggerated claims abound
regarding hypnosis as it one of the more appealing methods
dangled before the eyes of those who are hungry for a
seemingly easy solution to a complex problem.
A careful review of the scientific literatures exposes many
of the claims about weight loss through hypnosis on the
internet as overly optimistic at best and openly fraudulent
at worst.
Considerable controversy swirls around the mechanisms by
which hypnosis actually contributes to weight loss. Leon
(1976) suggested that hypnosis can help obese people team
new healthier eating patterns and retain them. One author
remarked that the hypnotic state is characterized by
heightened concentration, suggestibility, and relaxation
(Mott, 1982). Certain individuals are thought to be capable
of achieving this state more readily than others. A
so-called hypnotic "induction" whereby a hypnotist using
certain procedures to bring an individual into the hypnotic
state is not a prerequisite for achieving the state (Mott,
1982). Hypnosis, contrary to the claims of some intemet
advertisers cannot magically reprogram people's minds. In
short, methods of hypnosis run the gamut from simple
relaxation techniques to formal inductions administered by
hypnotists, but should not be considered supernatural in
its effects.
Studies showing weight loss as a result of hypnosis alone
are few in number and suffer from methodological problems.
Andersen (1985) reported that following 8 weekly treatment
sessions and 12 weeks of practicing self-hypnosis subjects
lost an average of 20.2 pounds. Cochrane and Friesen (1986)
concluded that moderate weight loss was obtained by
subjects using hypnosis. The experimental group, lost more
weight than the controls and maintained the weight loss at
a six month follow-up.
Mott (1982) stated that "although hypnosis is sometimes
referred to as a method of treatment, it is more accurate
to regard hypnosis as a facilitator of a number of
different treatment methods." The study concludes that the
use of hypnosis for a moderate weight loss is effective
using hypnotherapy. Hypnosis Plus Behavioral Weight
Management A number of studies indicate that hypnosis
combined with a behavioral weight management program
contributes significantly to weight loss. Bolocofsky,
Spinler, and Coulthard-Morris (1985) revealed that the
addition of hypnosis to a behavioral program designed to
alter eating patterns increased the amount of weight loss
at 8-month and 2year follow-ups. Both the behavioral and
hypnosis programs were tailored to each subject
individually in the study. Bolocofsky et al. (1984)
acknowledged that "the less a person weighed at the start
of the program the more likely he was to lose weight and
maintain the reduction". Hypnosis combined with behavioral
weight management seems to be more effective for small
amounts of weight loss. Another study of 45 females found
that supplementing a basic self-management program with
hypnosis resulted in a slightly greater amount of weight
loss at a 3-month follow-up (Barabasz and Spiegel, 1989).
The group for which individualized hypnotic suggestions
were developed lost more weight than those exposed only to
a group procedure. Kirsch (1996) noted a weight loss of
6.00 pounds without hypnosis and 11.83 pounds with hypnosis
based on a meta-analysis of six studies. Allison and Faith
(1996), however, disagreed and maintained that hypnosis
only enhances cognitive-behavioral psychotherapy slightly
if at all. Long-term individualized hypnosis combined with
a behavioral weight management program appears to
contribute to modest weight loss and helps maintain it.
Hypnosis operates mainly as a way to increase participants'
attention to suggestions of behavioral programs as well as
to reinforce their weight loss. Studies using behavioral
treatments successfully "typically have developed incentive
systems to bridge the gap between the short-term
-reinforcers provided during treatment and long-term goal
of weight reduction" (Bolocofsky et al., 1985). Hypnosis
can fulfill this role by stepping in as a psychological
reinforcer. Hypnosis may assist subjects in learning
positive eating behaviors and creating healthy long-term
patterns of food intake. Subjects are then more likely to
incorporate the rules of a particular program into their
behavioral regimes (Bolocofsky, 1985). Kroger (1970) points
out the similarities between hypnosis and behavioral
treatments which share an emphasis on visualization and
imagination. The literature suggests that hypnosis is an
ideal addition to behavioral weight management programs
which tend to need supplementation to achieve long-term
results.
The Hodgepodge Problem in Weight Loss Studies The use of
subjects of varying ages and backgrounds represents one
challenge that plagues studies of hypnosis as a useful
treatment for weight loss. Andersen (1985) utilized
subjects ranging in age from 21-56 years, a considerable
spread. Subjects in another study ranged in age from 17 to
67 resulting in considerable potential differences between
the control group and the hypnosis group (Bolocofsky et
al., 1985). The fact that subjects were not matched with
regard to age could exaggerate results of weight loss as a
result of hypnosis that may more accurately be attributed
to age differences. McCabe, Jupp, and Collins (I985)
suggested a tendency for younger women to drop out of
weight loss programs relative to older women leading to a
possible masking of potential effects of age. Bolocofsky et
al. (1984) indicated that successful hypnotic weight loss
participants were higher in self-control, weighed less at
the start of the study, married, and more expressive. A
wide variety of factors influence whether a given subject
will lose weight through a hypnotic weight loss program.
Anderson (1985) cites the absence of matched subjects as a
weakness in her experiment. More studies with subjects
closely matched on various characteristics should be
conducted to substantiate claims about the effectiveness of
hypnosis for weight loss when combined with a behavioral
program.
Most studies require weekly consultation with a hypnotist
for 8 weeks or more in addition to self-hypnosis
(Bolocofsky et al., 1984; Bolocofsky et al., 1985,
Andersen, 1985; Cochrane & Friesen, 1986; McCabe et al.,
1985). Internet advertisers who claim weight loss will
occur following a single hypnotic session, especially a
group hypnotic session, are frauds selling dreams to
desperate customers. Allison and Faith (1996) underscore
that "there is currently no panacea for the treatment of
obesity and hypnosis is no exception". Treatment using
hypnosis then is not a quick and easy way out of weight
troubles. In order to achieve any benefits from its use,
hypnosis must be practiced on a regular basis for a
significant period of time.
Conclusions and Limitations
Hypnosis has been shown to be an effective treatment for
low to moderate amounts of weight loss. One qualification
of this statement is that the hypnotic program should be
tailored to each individual. Hypnosis is a process by which
an individual enters a state of relaxation and heightened
suggestibility, Transformation of the brain through some
mysterious process defines only the hypnosis of
pseudoscientists. Quick-fix hypnosis is probably much less
effective than an 8 week program using both in-session
hypnosis, at-home self-hypnosis, and behavioral weight
management. The only people who claim hypnosis is easy,
simple, and quick are those trying to sell people on their
program. The largest obstacle in weight loss is its
long-term retention, but follow-ups of hypnosis as a weight
loss treatment have been conducted at the longest after two
years. Weight loss tapes lack scientific evidence to
support their success and should be purchased with this
knowledge in mind. Weight loss through hypnosis has been
largely ignored by scientists and more studies with control
groups and large subject pools are required to understand
its action and import.
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Mark Albertson is a Clinical Hypnotherapist in Washington
State who now trains people interested in learning
hypnosis. Mark also has a vibrant coaching business,
helping people in clinical hypnotherapy to create
profitable practices. You can visit his information
website at http://themindcraft.com or his hypnotherapy
training/coaching site at http://hypnoprofit.com .
