What Is Gastric Band Hypnotherapy?

Over the course of the last decade or so the gastric band (also known as a lap band) has become an increasingly popular surgical procedure for those who wish to lose weight. A band is fitted around the stomach and inflated so that the stomach capacity is greatly reduced. This means the patient eats less food which results in weight loss that is both quick and lasting.

However gastric band surgery is not without risks. There is always the inherent risk with any surgery of something going wrong, but there are also some issues that the gastric band can specifically cause. This includes a slipped band (which can result in the stomach capacity either decreasing too much or not enough), acid reflux, nausea, sickness, diarrhea, regurgitation, blockages as well as other problems. So while the results are undoubtedly impressive there are definitely hidden dangers. But wouldn’t it be great if there was a way to replicate the success of the gastric band without any of the risks?

Well, in fact there is a way. Recently hypnotherapists have had great success replicating the gastric band procedure purely with hypnotic suggestions. No scalpels, anesthetic or scars - just pure power of the mind. Due to its safe and effect nature gastric band hypnotherapy has become the latest craze in weight loss. A simple Google search reveals hundreds of satisfied patients who’ve undergone gastric band hypnotherapy and lost much of their excess weight. How exactly does it work though?

To understand how gastric band hypnotherapy works we first must look at hypnosis and the effect on the mind. While human knowledge of the mind is far from complete, the most accepting theory is that the mind is made of two major components - the conscious and the subconscious. You will be most familiar with the concept of the conscious mind as that is where your regular thought pattern originates from. Whenever you think to yourself “I’m thirsty, I should go get a drink” or something similar that is your conscious mind at work. Your subconscious mind is much deeper and, in a way, powerful. It controls all those instinctive actions and reactions that you don’t even think about, your habits, your desires and your phobias. It is your subconscious mind that hypnosis works on. Hypnosis primes the subconscious and readies it to accept suggestions.

Now we understand how hypnosis works it becomes a little clearer how gastric band hypnotherapy works. A hypnotherapist will induce a hypnotic state in their client and then talk them through the gastric band procedure as if it is actually happening. There is no pain or anything physically at all really happening but the subconscious mind finds it very difficult to differentiate between fantasy and reality. That is why may sometimes have very powerful dreams that seem all too real.

Once the subconscious mind believes that its body has a gastric band fitted it will act as if you really do have one fitted. This means you will feel full more easily, eat more slowly, and eat smaller meals. This obviously results in very effective weight loss.

As well as being safer than surgery, gastric band hypnotherapy is also much more affordable - generally ten times less expensive that surgery. There are even audio packs recorded by clinical hypnotherapists that have the exact same session on CD or MP3 that are less expensive still since the hypnotherapist only needs to record the session once for many clients. These can cost less than $100.

So if you’re thinking about having gastric band surgery then the natural method of hypnotherapy may very well be worth your consideration.