Hypnotherapy can be a highly successful therapy and a healthy alternative to medicines or diet supplements. Local Mum and practitioner Sam Cook explains how she achieves results
Trying to lose weight? You’re not alone. Two out of three women tried to lose weight in the past year and more men than ever are trying to slim down, official figures suggest.
You probably don’t need those statistics to tell you that weight is becoming an increasing problem in the UK as eating too much and exercising too little is already an established trend. The type of food we are eating is also changing; fast foods in particular are higher in calories, fats and sugar, none of which are good for general health or a trim waistline.
Emotional blocks
“Many of us struggle with our weight even though we know what we need to do – exercise more, take in less calories and eat healthier meals,” explains Local Mum Sam Cook, a qualified hypnotherapist and owner of Hypnotherapy Sutton. "However there are emotional blocks that we often need help to overcome. We eat not because we are hungry but out of boredom, to change mood and feel better, as a reward or simply to cheer ourselves up."
Hypnotherapy can help you think differently about food, the type of food you eat, when you eat it and your emotional relationship with food.
“With my help, you can gain control over your eating habits and reach and maintain your weight loss goals,” says Sam. "Our hypnotherapy sessions will pinpoint the emotional issues you have that cause you to over-eat, we will alter your attitude towards eating, which in turn will allow you to create meals based around healthier options and snacks.
Sam’s own journey with wieght loss
Sam started her journey towards becoming a successful hypnotherapist when she needed to make important changes in her own life.
"I wanted - and needed - to change my life," says Sam. "I was very overweight and to be honest I didn't like myself very much." This is when Sam discovered hypnotherapy and gradually, over many sessions, became the confident and successful person she is today.
"It was not easy but slowly I lost 2 1/2 stone," explains Sam. "With the help of hypnotherapy I began to change the way I thought about myself and to become happy with who I am. I started to look after myself instead of everyone else."
Sam had a few pitfalls along the way including bereavement when she sadly lost her beloved mum to cancer. "This taught me an invaluable lesson that life is short and we all owe it to ourselves to be the best person we can," explains Sam. "This is when I decided to train as a hypnotherapist so I could help people in the way I have been helped."
What is hypnotherapy?
Hypnotherapy is the use of hypnosis in a therapeutic and clinical setting and has been attributed with bringing about life-changing, positive results.
"People often describe a hypnotherapy session as being in a very relaxing day dream," says Sam. "I guide people into a relaxed state of mind and by doing this I am able to bypass their conscious mind and make positive and beneficial suggestions to their subconscious mind."
When you are in hypnosis you will be in a state of physical and mental relaxation. This gives the threrapist direct access to the subconscious mind. "I can then use this state to introduce ideas (suggestions) or to ask the subconscious mind to consider a change in behaviour associated with the issue that you have," explains Sam.
Different issues
Sam has used hypnotherapy to help people with various different problems. These include smoking, drinking, insomnia, drug-taking, gambling, over-eating, under-eating and biting your nails. "Any form of behaviour that is undesirable or bad for your health can be altered by hypnotherapy," says Sam.
"I may focus on the past or the here and now; more often than not a combination of both works best," says Sam. "I treat every client as an individual and base my therapy around their personal needs. I feel it is important for people to feel relaxed and comfortable in my hypnotherapy sessions. Hypnotherapy commonly only takes a few sessions (depending on the problems being resolved) and it doesn’t take long before benefits are felt."
"The initial session provides you with an opportunity to discuss your problems and for many people this is the first step to making progress and improvement," adds Sam. "Come and talk to me and let's see if we can work through things together."
Weight loss
Some of Sam's best results have been achieved with people looking for help with weight loss. "This is where hypnotherapy can really make a big difference," explains Sam. "It encourages and supports people to think differently about food. Most importantly the type of food you eat, when you eat it and your emotions throughout this process. I work with people to gain control and enable them to reach their weight loss goal."
If you are feeling down about your weight problems and find that dieting and exercise is not enough, it can be helpful to talk about your situation. Talking about your problems is always a great starting point and you may find that you have root issues that lead you to being overweight.
"These sessions can pinpoint the emotional issues that you have that cause you to over-eat," says Sam. "Not only that but hypnotherapy sessions have been known to alter your attitude to eating, allowing you to create meals and snacks based around healthier food. Taking control of your body is very empowering, providing you with a great deal of confidence which can be essential in taking positive steps to losing weight and feeling better about yourself."
So if you would like to find out how hypnotherapy could be the first step in losing weight and feeling better about yourself, or making other positive changes in your life, why not give local mum Sam a ring for more details?
Read Local Mums' reviews of Hypnotherapy Sutton
Contact:
Sam Cook,
Hypnotherapy Sutton,
The Surrey Clinic,
54 Stafford Road,
Wallington,
SM6 9AY
Tel: 07795576195
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www.hypnotherapysutton.com
Sam Cook, owner of Hypnotherapy Sutton