Journalist Judy Foster undertook a one-to-one hypnotherapy course with Lynda Scrivener of Hypnosis 2 Change Your Mind in order to write an unbiased feature for her newspaper, the Diss Express.

Reproduced here, with the kind permission of the Diss Express, is her personal experience of how hypnotherapy worked for her.  To see the full article, please logon to the Diss Express website at:

http://www.dissexpress.co.uk/local/Diss-Express-reporter-tries-hypnotherapy.6199270.jp

Taking The Positive Path To Dieting

“In common with a lot of people, I find sticking to a diet very difficult and if I manage to lose a few pounds, I invariably give up and put it back on again.

Hypnotherapist Lynda Scrivener said the reason so many of us never achieve our dieting goals is because the underlying reasons for the weight gain are not dealt with. However, hypnotherapy enables you to shed negative programming and ideas that have built up over many years, such as feelings of guilt at not clearing your plate or comfort eating at times of stress. The same mental blocks apply to other problems such as smoking or a negative self image.

The weight loss course consists of three sessions.

The first is to discuss your motivations in wanting to lose weight and any blocks to achieving it, plus an opportunity to familiarise yourself with Mrs Scrivener and her voice.

The second session is a full hypnotherapy session and the third consolidates the positive messages so that long-lasting results are achieved.

During the hypnotherapy I felt completely relaxed but also fully aware of what was going on in the room. I was encouraged to visualize a fork in the road and the two paths I could take - one negative and one positive - and then to see myself in the future in ten years time as I would be without making any changes or as I would be if I stuck firmly to the positive path.

Mrs Scrivener also guided me though how to practice self hypnosis at home, which I am continuing to do for a few minutes every evening to keep me focused on my goal.

I came away from the sessions with an incredibly positive mindset and feeling in control of my eating habits. In the first week I lost four pounds - a great start. By week seven, I had lost another five pounds - a total of nine in all - and the weight is continuing to slowly come off at a rate of around one to two pounds a week.

The great thing is I don’t feel like I am on a diet at all because there are no banned foods and I don’t spend my time thinking about what I can or can’t eat, therefore I don’t fell deprived.

Instead I am determined to carry on eating healthily and sensibly, as well as exercising more, for a better future for myself. It’s not hard work at all once you are in the right frame of mind to do it, and hypnotherapy gives you that.

I know I am going to reach the target weight I have set myself because now I am in control and I’ve made my mind up that I will do it.

It’s very liberating and it’s a technique which Lynda has told me can be applied to anything I want to achieve in life - so the sky’s the limit!”

JUDY FOSTER