Many New Year resolutions are made with good intent and, just as quickly, broken.
Two of the most common ‘failed’ resolutions are to lose weight and to stop smoking.
After a night out, one of the most popular New Year resolutions is to stop smoking but it is a hard habit to break, meaning that this resolution is often broken.
But hypnotherapy has a proven track record in helping smokers break this habit and the National Council for Hypnotherapy has 1,800 registered and qualified therapists who can offer the right treatment.
And the desire to lose weight, after a period of heavy eating is also one of the most common New Year’s resolutions.
After a season of way too many feasts, chocolates and holiday parties, it’s only natural that a vow to lose weight and get fit would follow.
Each January, fitness clubs offer deals and promotions to those who want to make good on their resolutions.
To those who have been at the gym for the other 11 months of the year, the crowded classes and treadmill lines make the New Year a dreaded time. Luckily for gym rats, research says that 60 per cent of memberships go unused and attendance is usually back to normal by mid-February.
Here again, therapists have a good record in helping people lose weight and manage their eating regimes to maintain the weight loss.
Both ‘resolutions’ – smoking and over-eating – are habits which can be defeated, if the smoker or over-eater really wants to quit.
Overeating becomes problematic when it manifests as a compulsive or obsessive relationship with food or a food addiction.
Treatment for compulsive overeating can vary but hypnotherapy can successfully modify the behaviour of the client.
The NCH’s therapists can treat problem behaviours like smoking and over-eating with a series of sessions.
Paul Howard, the NCH’s marketing director, says: “At the NCH we define it as an unwanted habit or addiction; something you feel you have no control over which affects your life and the lives of those you care about. Habits such as over-eating or smoking are the most common, but there are many other behaviours that affect people’s lives, make them unhappy or cause a risk to their health and the health of those around them.”
When an over-eater sees a hypnotherapist for weight loss they will be asked questions about when and what they eat and what triggers the desire to reach for food when not hungry.
The therapist will then compile a programme of treatment that will motivate the client to exercise more and eat less. Hypnotherapy for weight loss is about changing the habit with food for the rest of the client’s life.
For the client wishing to quit smoking, research has shown that hypnotherapy is three times more likely to succeed than using nicotine patches.
In both instances, it is important for the client to understand their motivation for wanting to quit.
