Someone drew my focus on articles published this past year in a respected national newspaper. It was about a heavy woman who lost 8 stone having a virtual gastric band fitted under hypnosis. Just what a success story for hypnotherapy! Or could it be?
People are becoming increasingly conscious of 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 could 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 magic wand that will simply make their weight problem disappear. If only it were that simple.
They say, don't they, that there is no such thing as bad publicity. I've never thought that to be true. Stories which proclaim the success of hypnotherapy are usually welcome - but as long as they're credible.
Let me begin by saying that I'm quite prepared to believe that the lady in this article did indeed lose lots of weight. But this article makes it pretty clear that this was not attained by virtual gastric band suggestions alone but by adopting the type of radical liquid-through-to-solids diet which may be adopted by a person who had an actual gastric band fitted. This article also says that she'd ten sessions of hypnotherapy and that the cost of treatment was £270. However I had 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 lady had ten sessions then that could cost her £900. If you look at some of the readers' comments on this article you will see that the most up-to-date comment hits the nail on the head. The lady lost weight because she adopted a radical diet, not due to 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 likely to work? Hypnosis can make the human body do some amazing things. Operations could be carried out using only hypnosis as anaesthetic revenue. It's quite conceivable that under hypnosis an individual might be made to feel as if a surgical procedure have been performed and a gastric band have been fitted. But once the hypnosis is terminated the client is not left with a belly which has somehow been shrunk by hypnosis. They may be told that they will feel as if a gastric band has been fitted. But how can they understand what which actually feels like if they've never actually had the operation?
Basically, then, the client is told that their stomach is not as large as it used to be. It's 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 a choice between feeling sickness and discomfort on the one hand and hunger on another? But people that are suggestible enough to simply accept an indication like which are also ideal subjects of conventional hypnotherapy weight loss treatments. For such people the elaborate hoax of a non-existent surgical operation is not really required.
When I first heard about virtual gastric band treatments I knew that I would never offer such treatments because nothing that is based upon 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 have not been scientifically scrutinized or tested. I have found no mention of virtual gastric band treatments in scientific publications such as for example Contemporary Hypnosis or the European Journal of Clinical Hypnosis. There could, therefore, be dangers in the treatment which may have not even come to light. Yet I suspect that the main problem is sheer ineffectiveness. Several of my very own clients have experienced virtual gastric band treatments and have found them to be both highly expensive and totally ineffective.
At the end of your day, you can find no magic wands. There's one way, and one way only, to reach permanent and lasting weight loss - by making lasting changes to diet and / or exercise regime.
Shortcuts and magical solutions like the virtual gastric band are just gimmicks. The only thing that the virtual gastric band is guaranteed to make lighter is your purse or your wallet!
