Why I Won't Help You Diet

One of the first things I say when I'm asked about hypnotherapy for weight management is: If you're looking for a diet, you've come to the wrong place!

Often the response is a sigh of relief, though there's sometimes a hint of confusion there, too. Which isn't surprising when you consider that diets are being sold to us from just about every angle you can think of. Why eat plain old yoghurt when you could eat DIET yoghurt? Planning on a holiday this summer? You'll need to DIET so you can wear a bikini! Want to be thinner, happier, more successful? All you need to do is DIET! If you believe what you hear in the media, a diet can fix just about anything. Children as young as 6 are dieting, and the average UK woman embarks on 16 diets throughout her lifetime. Open a woman's magazine and there will almost always be a new diet to try, with recipes for 100 calorie meals, and pictures of the celebrities you could look like if only you stick to this regime (forget about the expensive clothes and make up, the stylists, and the airbrushing - it's all about the diet). 

Something is wrong here.

The diet industry in the UK is worth £2 BILLION, so it's no wonder dieting is marketed so aggressively. And it's no wonder that diets don't actually work. If they did, the industry would collapse - we'd all just go on one diet, lose weight, become healthier, happier, and never need to diet again. And that wouldn't sell many diet books, special low-calorie "milkshakes", or weight loss videos. 

Instead, diets are designed to be a short term solution. Yes, if you eat nothing but cabbage soup, cut out entire food groups, or spend X days per week starving yourself, then you will lose weight. However, the vast majority of diets are so restrictive that you will not be able to keep this up for the rest of your life. You'll become so frustrated at the lack of variety, or simply so hungry, that you'll HAVE to "give up". Your body, which is programmed to protect you from famine, will be so grateful for every morsel that you'll quickly regain anything you may have lost, and more. Not only do you end up as heavy, or heavier, you're also left with the feeling of guilt and failure that comes from "giving up" yet another diet. We're told that diets make us thin, when they're really more likely to make us overweight, and much less happy than when we started. 

So, yeah, I don't do diets. I don't do weight loss, either, not really. If the only reason you're coming to see me is to lose a certain amount of weight then, sorry, but I can't really get on board with that. Not only do I feel that prioritising weight loss over every other aspect of your life is a fast track to madness, I know that it's just not sustainable. Sooner or later, no matter how dedicated to weight loss you are, something will happen that's just more important - and that's exactly as it should be! And so, while you're enjoying your holiday, or focusing on your career, or moving house, or a dealing with a family illness, or any other life event that is just more important than losing weight, you will ditch that diet and your weight will yo-yo straight back up. 

There has to be more to it than that.

But if you have health problems, if you can't keep up with your children, if you're struggling with motivation or body image or self esteem, if you want to respect your body with more nourishing foods, if you'd love to make movement a part of your life, if you're sick of the diets... THAT is what I do!

I won't help you get thin, but I will help you respect and honour your body. 

I will help you tackle cravings by giving your body what it really needs. 

I will help you make choices that help your body and mind, rather than harm them. 

I will help you eat because you're hungry, not because you're bored, or sad, or lonely, or angry (and I'll help you deal with all of those things without using food!).

I will help you make movement enjoyable, not a chore.

I will help you move away from viewing food as a punishment or a reward.

I will help you increase your self esteem and confidence, and improve your body image until you love your body no matter what size it happens to be. 

And most of all, I will help you say "NO!" to diets.

And if those changes mean that your body naturally shifts to the weight and shape that it's most healthy and comfortable at, then so be it.

I will help you gain energy and vitality, improve your physical health and fitness, and give your mental health a boost as well. I don't want to talk about "losing weight" - I prefer to focus on what you can gain!

I'd love to hear from you, if you've got any comments or questions you can post them below or message me privately on lily@lilycameronhypnotherapy.com

Hypnotherapy Made Easy

In my last post I talked about what hypnotherapy is not - so what exactly is it?

Hypnotherapy is a form of psychotherapy used to manage and treat everything from chronic pain, to pain during childbirth, phobias to habits, depression and anxiety to obsessions and addictions. In truth, it's difficult to think of an issue that hypnotherapy couldn't help with. 

Hypnotherapy has gained some popularity in the media recently, with Anna Richardson becoming it's latest famous fan - even training as a hypnotherapist herself - but it's far from a modern fad. Hypnosis has been around for centuries, and though we're not entirely sure where or when it began to be used, it has been documented across ancient Greece, India and Egypt. In the 1700s Franz Anton Mesmer developed a therapy using touch and eye contact to heal various ills. The medical community of the day concluded that Mesmer's patients were healed by the power of their imagination. In other words, they were "mesmerised". 


Although Mesmer coined a term which is still used widely, though usually perhaps unwittingly, it was James Braid, a Scottish surgeon, who in 1842 named the practice hypnotism, from the Greek hypnos -"sleep". Braid believed the hypnotic trance to be induced by fixation on a moving object, which invokes images of the pocket watch swinging slowly back and forth. Hypnosis was used in the American Civil War, in the absence of pain relief and anaesthesia, and again in World Wars 1 and 2, being especially successful in treating "shell shock"; and Sigmund Freud developed psychoanalysis based on his study of the practice.Hypnosis has continued to be used, both by stage hypnotists, and for therapy purposes, and thanks to celebrity hypnotists such as Derren Brown and Paul McKenna, seems to be more well known and sought after than ever before, 

That's a (very) brief history, but it doesn't explain what hypnosis is actually like. I've never yet been tempted to channel Braid and swing a watch before a client's eyes, and while I will vary my approach depending on the individual client and the issue being addressed, I tend to favour sitting us both in comfy chairs, listening to some calming music, and beginning with guided relaxation. Being in a hypnotic trance is something that you probably experience daily, though you may call it "daydreaming". That strange state of mind where you appear to be awake, maybe even engaged in a repetitive task (washing dishes is my favourite daydreamy chore), and yet not really "with it", perhaps imagining your next holiday, or what you'd do if you won the lottery, or any number of scenarios more interesting than your current surroundings. And then your child calls out, or your colleague nudges you to alert you of the boss' arrival, and you jump and blink and come back to the present. You might have been vaguely aware of people around you talking but you weren't really taking it in. 

Everyone experiences hypnosis differently, some people feel as though they've been deeply asleep, others remember every word I say, and still others fall somewhere in between. Just about everybody feels relaxed and refreshed afterwards, as though they've had a wonderful massage, or a revitalising afternoon nap. When you're in hypnosis your concious mind is distracted, leaving your subconcious in a highly receptive and suggestible state, which allows it to take on new ideas, and change old, unhelpful thought processes.

Because hypnotherapy works on a deeper level than other talking therapies which engage only the concious mind, it tends to be much faster. The average length of time I spend working with a client is around 4 - 6 sessions. Imagine, that's less than two months to change behaviour that may have lasted a lifetime! Happily, this means hypnotherapy can work out much cheaper than some other therapies, some of which may require commitment of a year or more. 

If you feel like experiencing some of this lovely relaxation, if you're about ready to tackle those areas of your life you're not completely comfortable with, or if you're just still not entirely sure what I'm talking about, why not try hypnotherapy out for yourself?

I'd love to hear from you, if you've got any comments or questions you can post them below or message me privately on lily@lilycameronhypnotherapy.com

So,Will I Cluck Like a Chicken?

When I tell people I am a hypnotherapist their responses range from interest, to confusion, to outright fear! One of the first questions I'm asked, only half joking, is usually "Would you make me cluck like a chicken?"

And the short answer is... Yes! But only if you wanted me to (so far none of my clients have, but never say never). Hypnotherapy is sometimes confused for stage hypnotism, but although both hypnotherapists and stage hypnotists use hypnosis, the similarities end there. A stage hypnotist is primarily a performer, as opposed to a therapist, and they know how to put on a good show - usually at the expense of their "hapless" volunteers!

But just how hapless are the members of the audience who so eagerly raise their hands? Well, not very, really. They either want very much to be hypnotised - they like to make people laugh, and don't mind making themselves look a little silly in the process - or they want to show up the hypnotist and are determined NOT to be hypnotised! Either way, they are self selecting. The hypnotist will perform a few tests to decide which volunteers are the most highly suggestible. This separates the "class clowns", who will comply with the hypnotist's requests, from the mischievous types who will staunchly refuse. When the hypnotist has determined who's going to play ball they will send the others back to their seats, announcing they only need X number of volunteers, leaving them with the people who are perfectly happy to cluck like a chicken, dance around on stage, and generally make a bit of a fool of themselves in the name of a good giggle. 

Could they refuse, if they suddenly lost their nerve? Absolutely! When you're in a hypnotic trance you are in full control, and will be able to refuse anything you're not comfortable with, you'll be able to move if you want to, and if the fire alarm goes off, or you become so relaxed you feel like you're about to fall off your chair, you'll be able to wake yourself up, completely alert and able to move, speak and think as usual. 

Hypnotherapists, who are primarily therapists as opposed to hypnotists, aren't so concerned with showy gestures and stage presence (they shouldn't be, anyway!), and any reputable hypnotherapist will make your comfort an absolute priority, reassuring you and answering any questions you might have.

In short, stage hypnotists can be a great for a fun night out, whether you're on stage doing your best chicken impression or not, but they're worlds away from hypnotherapists. So stop worrying, OK? :)

I'd love to hear from you, if you've got any comments or questions you can post them below or message me privately on lily@lilycameronhypnotherapy.com