Weight Loss and Hypnotherapy

Photo by Rick Hustead

If you want a head-start working on your New Year’s resolution to take off some weight and get fit, now is the perfect time to try hypnotherapy and therapeutic guided imagery to help you achieve these goals. I am currently promoting my 10-week weight-loss program with a $250 SAVINGS when you enroll for the entire package. Following is a brief summary of how this program works.

The first thing I will do is to establish your motivation for losing the weight. Is there a health reason such as diabetes control? Do you want to improve your physical fitness or just take off a few pounds to get ready for the spring and summer? Perhaps friends or relatives in your social circle have been putting on pressure to drop the pounds. Or, you may (subconsciously) use excess weight as a “shield” to protect against emotional rejection or even a subconscious fear of returning to a previous lower weight where an emotional trauma may have occurred. 

It doesn’t matter what your motivation for losing weight happens to be. However, said Hypnosis Motivation Institute founder John G. Kappas, Ph.D., “If you are not personally motivated to achieve the weight-loss goal, the weight-loss program is unlikely to be successful.” 

Once we identify and establish your motivation to lose weight, I will use hypnosis and guided-imagery techniques to help you resolve any previous issues or resistance to losing weight*. I will also use these therapeutic techniques to help you develop and reinforce your strong, positive self-image about being at the desired weight and feeling comfortable with being physically attractive. All of the hypnotic suggestions I give you will incorporate your expressed motivations to feel physically, emotionally, mentally healthy and happier every day and to project positive feelings and ideas of successfully losing weight in a healthy way. (Depending on your weight-loss goals, I may also refer you to be examined by a physician for guidance about an appropriate exercise and nutritional regimen before we begin this program, which I will reinforce during your hypnotherapy sessions with me.

I look forward to hearing from—and working with—you soon!

Hypnotherapy for Weight Loss

This 10-week weight-loss package is designed to help you shed extra pounds using hypnosis and therapeutic guided-imagery techniques. It is customized to your specific weight-loss goal, and materials are provided at each weekly session to help you keep track of your progress and maintain motivation throughout this program. In addition, a complimentary recording of the hypnosis portion of each session (CD or digital file) is provided at the end of each appointment to reinforce what you worked on that week. 

$1,250 for 10-week series. (This is a $250 savings!)  

Fee must be paid at the start of the program. This promotional discount may not be combined with any other offers.

*California law allows access by California residents to complementary and alternative health care practitioners who are not providing services that require medical training and credentials. The purpose of a program of hypnotherapy is for vocational and avocational self-improvement (Business and Professions Code 2908) and as an alternative or complementary treatment to healing arts services licensed by the state. A hypnotherapist is not a licensed physician or psychologist, and hypnotherapy services are not licensed by the state of California. Services are non-diagnostic and do not include the practice of medicine, neither should they be considered a substitute for licensed medical or psychological services or procedures.

Sara R. Fogan, C.Ht. is a certified hypnotherapist based in Southern California. She graduated with honors from the Hypnosis Motivation Institute in 2005. For more information about Calminsense Hypnotherapy® and to set up an appointment, please visit http://www.calminsensehypnotherapy.com/.

© 2018

Pruning the Rose Bushes

(This blog was originally posted on January 22, 2016)

A couple of days ago, I noticed a neighbor pruning the rose bushes that grew between our properties. Watching her cut back the branches reminded me how my late grandmother used to love gardening; her roses always looked beautiful, even better than what I would see in flower shops. She once explained how pruning the bush all the way back during the winter to remove the detritus of dead branches and wilting flowers was the key to making room for fresh, healthy growth in the spring.

What a wonderful metaphor for hypnotherapy!

When a client contacts me to change an unwanted behavior such as lose weight, quit smoking, overcome a fear/phobia, I help the person strip back aspects of the negative habit in hypnosis to facilitate the desired behavior in “real life.” One way to do this is simply desensitizing the individual to the various situations or stimuli that trigger the undesired response. Then I would help the person create a new, positive association between feeling relaxed, comfortable and smiling (a positive physical action) while performing a desired behavior, such as walking out of the kitchen or away from the temptation.  Alternatively, I might employ Neuro-Linguistic Programming techniques to create a negative association between that sweet treat by pairing the preferred item (e.g., ice cream) with one that the person dislikes (e.g., cottage cheese). 

Once this new association is created in the subconscious mind, therapeutic guided-imagery techniques enable the person to visualize or imagine replacing those beliefs and actions associated with the undesired behavior with the new, desired beliefs and behaviors. Since the subconscious mind does not know the difference between imagination and reality, in hypnosis the client can practice the desired behavior over and over again to establish the new, desired subconscious known and behavior. 

Similar to how my grandmother tended her prized rose bushes every year, through hypnotherapy, I help metaphorically prune the detritus of unwanted behaviors that the client wants to change. Just like the roses, over time and with nurturing self-love and desire to change, new personal growth and success can bloom in its place.

Sara R. Fogan, C.Ht. is a certified hypnotherapist based in Southern California. She graduated with honors from the Hypnosis Motivation Institute in 2005. For more information about Calminsense Hypnotherapy® and to set up an appointment, please visit http://www.calminsensehypnotherapy.com/.

© 2017

 

Hypnotherapy to Help You Stay Motivated During a Challenge

(This blog was originally posted on February 13, 2014)

 

                As a hypnotherapist, one of the most important things I do is to motivate my clients to continue working to change an unwanted behavior. Sometimes a challenge or a setback occurs during this therapeutic process, and I must put on another hat to facilitate crisis management. Perhaps you have experienced a personal crisis, such as the unexpected death of a spouse or life-threatening medical diagnosis*; or, you are discouraged about your rate of progress in achieving the desired self-improvement goal. It is my honor and privilege to help you to find/re-discover, and employ, your inner resources to overcome such a challenge in the following ways:

·         Provide you with unconditional positive regard. I use active and reflective listening techniques to help you clarify the issue or source of frustration, and identify the emotions or feelings surrounding that situation.

·         Employ Neuro-Linguistic programming techniques such as “chunking down” the problem to help you look at and identify ways of breaking it into smaller, more manageable elements that you can resolve.

·         Help you to brainstorm a list, which you will write, of all of your inner resources—talents, work/sports experience, problem-solving skills, etc. that you have acquired during/through hypnotherapy—that you believe will help you overcome the current setback or disappointment.

·         Apply hypnosis and therapeutic guided-imagery techniques to help you access those resources and other problem-solving skills that you have previously used to overcome a similar situation in order to conquer the current setback. If you have overcome ‘X’ before, your subconscious mind knows how to use these skills to succeed, again!

·         Help you to create an anchor which you can access at any time to activate this sensation of relaxation, calm and comfort that you experienced during hypnosis in order to solve a problem or overcome a challenge when you are alert and aware (not in hypnosis).

 

If the issue or crisis is beyond the scope of my expertise as a hypnotherapist to help you achieve your vocational and avocational self-improvement goals, I will refer you to a licensed medical doctor and/or licensed mental health practitioner. This referral is imperative to ensure your emotional and physical well-being, because these experts are equipped to provide you with the specific support that you need to help you through that event. However, according to California law I may continue to work with you as your hypnotherapist in conjunction with these other experts to provide complementary therapy, with a signed referral from them (Business and Professions Code 2908).

 

 

 

Sara R. Fogan, C.Ht. is a certified hypnotherapist based in Southern California. She graduated with honors from the Hypnosis Motivation Institute in 2005. For more information about Calminsense Hypnotherapy® and to set up an appointment, please visit http://www.calminsensehypnotherapy.com/.

© 2014                                                                                                                                                                                                            

Stop! Negative Self-Talk

(This blog was originally posted on January 17, 2014)

 

 

                From time to time, in a moment of frustration or anger or even fear, we say something negative and hurtful to someone very close to us. The incident that sparked the outburst may turn out to be inconsequential, but in that instant there is nothing more important or urgent than giving that other person a piece of our mind for causing so much trouble in the first place. We can always apologize and make amends to the other person once tempers have cooled down and the issue is resolved. But, what if the person you are so mad at is you? Do you apologize for the hurtful things you have said or thought about you, to yourself?

                According to John Kappas, Ph.D., the subconscious mind works on expectation and imagination. Over time, we learn to expect others to respond to and interact with us in a particular way based on our previous experience with those individuals. We also learn to internalize the message or emotion we perceive in those interactions, which can affect self-confidence and self-esteem. No matter what the “message” is, as you hear and repeat it to yourself your subconscious mind starts to internalize and believe that message. If people in your social circle constantly bombard you with criticism and negativity, perhaps it is time to change who you hang out with. If you are the one trash-talking yourself, it is time to rewrite your mental script to be ­­­more loving and accepting of yourself.

                During hypnosis, I teach my clients simple breathing and relaxation techniques by which to dial down or even turn off the negative self-talk. I also desensitize my clients to the stimuli that typically trigger their self-criticism and self-reproach. Finally, I use therapeutic guided-imagery techniques to enable my clients to find solutions for those situations and then visualize, imagine, picture or pretend that they have successfully resolved a conflict with self-confidence and self-love.

 

Sara R. Fogan, C.Ht. is a certified hypnotherapist based in Southern California. She graduated with honors from the Hypnosis Motivation Institute in 2005. For more information about Calminsense Hypnotherapy® and to set up an appointment, please visit http://www.calminsensehypnotherapy.com/.

"It's Not What I Expected..."

                Most people have preconceived ideas about what something will or should be like. These expectations are based on the mental scripts or subconscious associations (knowns) that guide their beliefs and behaviors. For example, when I ordered a plate of fish and chips at lunch today, I was stunned to receive a plate of potato chips, not French fries, with my fried fish. Don’t get me wrong: the chips I received were home-made and very tasty. However, I had been looking forward to eating a serving of the British version of chips—steaming, thick wedges of fried potato—with salt and malt vinegar. I was initially disappointed that the restaurant didn’t seem to “get” the fact that when “chips” are served with fried fish, they should and traditionally are French fried potatoes. But once I got over being shocked about this apparent misunderstanding, I also had to laugh. The menu listed fish and chips, and in the United States, “chips” means potato chips. I expected to receive fries because I incorrectly inferred that they were on the menu based on my known, personal experience of what it means to eat fish and chips. The meal was not what I expected to be served, but it was still very enjoyable.

                I think people have similar expectations and a similar kind of experience the first time they come in for hypnotherapy. They have so many ideas about what will happen when they are hypnotized that it sometimes takes a little while for them to relax and appreciate all of the nuances of what they are experiencing. If they ever watched or participated in a stage-hypnosis performance, they might expect that they may also “have” to behave in an uncharacteristic and possibly embarrassing way during a hypnotherapy session. Similar to the description of the food I ordered at lunch today, many people have preconceived ideas about what hypnosis and hypnotherapy are, and what will happen when they are hypnotized. Therefore, it is very important that I can reassure my clients how and why this will not be the case. I explain how I use hypnosis and therapeutic guided-imagery techniques to help them person relax and emphasize why I include their specific words and motivations in their hypnotic scripts to change undesired behaviors.

                In the years that I have been working as a certified hypnotherapist, people have expressed feeling the most surprise at how completely relaxed and comfortable they felt during the session. Many have even confessed that hypnotherapy wasn’t what they expected in the same sentence they tell me that they didn’t know what to expect. Once out of hypnosis, when they really start to notice (feel) the subtle changes of physical energy that I observed during the session they express surprise at feeling so relaxed, so focused, so good. This positive experience will create a new known in their subconscious mind: hypnotherapy facilitates changing unwanted behaviors so they can strive for and achieve their vocational and avocational self-improvement goals.

 

 

 Sara R. Fogan, C.Ht. is a certified hypnotherapist based in Southern California. She graduated with honors from the Hypnosis Motivation Institute in 2005. For more information about Calminsense Hypnotherapy®, please visit http://www.calminsensehypnotherapy.com/.

© 2014