Reflective Journal Entries: Wedding HypnoBand

From Lucy Waterhouse, with thanks

Oct 2014

Well yesterday was a resounding success I am pleased to say, I worked with a couple who are friends of ours who are getting married in June and who both want to 'lose some weight' for the wedding. I was only doing the gastric band hypnosis for one of them today as I had limited time, but now the other friend wants me to do a hypno band done as well. 

I had offered to do it for them both as a wedding present for them both as I know that they are both very committed to making lifestyle changes and really committed to being active in their behavioural changes. Anyway, I decided after asking the person who I was doing the band for today first if it was ok, that I would do a consultation with them both together as they will be supporting one another and I wanted them to outline and understand what their joint goals were specifically. I did a lot of metaquestioning asking them to be really specific in their expectations and their desired outcome, helping them to change their language from blame frame to outcome frame and 'moving away from moving towards' etc. It was a really fruitful discussion and the deeper we went the more honest and open they were becoming which was honestly really wonderful to be a part of. We talked about the kinds of foods that they would be willing and able to enjoy and stick to in place of the junk foods they were choosing up until today (yesterday). 

We talked about strategies that they could put in place. Then I went upstairs with the woman I was working with, I did the session in their house, and asked her more personal questions about the attachment of guilt, shame, punishment and reward to the foods that she was choosing specifically and the emotional eating side of things. she was very open and honest as far as I could tell (micro expressions training really helped!!) and without even formally telling her that I would be starting the trance part of the session, as she was already showing good signs of being in a fairly deep level of trance without actually going through the induction, fixed gaze, dilated pupils, slowed breathing and so on, so just started asking her to notice her breathing and start slowing her out breath, and then only spoke to her as she was breathing out, which I stared doing more slowly until she had really become very slowed down and relaxed. I went through a long fractional induction, asking her to be mindful of all of her body and how it has been designed to work so efficiently and with so much complexity that her unconscious mind works so hard keeping everything moving and digesting and metabolising as well as working behind the scenes to protect her, I started to introduce the idea of filling her body with things that are healthful and nutritious, not just food but the way she communicates with herself and the idea of having control over her breathing and her heart rate meant that she would have more control over other aspects of her body and its functions. Anyway, I did all the regular stuff, relaxing place (which was actually two places, her own home with her partner and her dog and a beach that they visit every year to stay in a caravan on the beach...) anchoring them and asking for an IMR from her finger on the nearest hand, which I got very clearly- she remembered afterwards that it had happened a couple of times, the IMR that she was aware of, she described it as being like that weird jerk you get when you are falling asleep and feel like you are avoiding tripping or falling by moving or twitching without consciously making it happen. I did the gastric band then did a New behaviour generator which I got some fantastic feedback from her moving her finger, I mentioned when I nominated a finger that she could tell me that she was on board with the thoughts and ideas that I was saying at any point during the session by moving that finger and I got regular and distinct finger movement with what was happening- therefore I was getting an IMR at regular intervals throughout the whole session, not just when I asked a direct question but I had said when I touched her feeling that any time her unconscious mind was in total agreement with what I was saying to her, she would be able to move that finger to let me know she was fully on board. She became emotional several times during the session, especially when I mentioned her partner and dogs, including her dog who had passed away last year, she told me that in her ideal relaxing place there would be her, her partner and both dogs. I did some really detailed future pacing going forward days, weeks, months and years, having her greet her future space and assimilate that future self into her current self and begin to be that future self starting right now. She had made some wonderful facial expressions throughout the session, joy, sadness, teariness, real sadness, surprise, but mostly very very peaceful. 

When I brought her round, counted up to 5, and she woke feeling absolutely fantastic and really, really motivated. I told her that her signals that she was in a deep trance were really clear and that she looked completely relaxed and she said that she felt like she had had a refreshing 8 hour sleep and felt really motivated! I got a text from her saying that they had used smaller plates for their dinner and were both satisfied. Not stuffed. 

My next session with her, I will concentrate on feeling full and stuffed vs feeling satisfied and comfortable, and the reward/punishment aspect of her relationship with food as well as reinforcing. I might do some more NLP with her as the NLP worked really well in the beginning. She absolutely felt like she had had a 8 hour sleep and felt REALLY relaxed but incredibly motivated, she said "I just keep thinking 'bring it on!!'" I told her that she had had a wonderfully relaxed expression in her face and that I could see how emotionally invested she was in making this WORK. she had specifically asked if she could have her dog who has passed away in her relaxing place, along with her wife-to-be and her other dog who is still alive, and when we went to that relaxing place I could see the emotional reaction that she was having, both a joyous feeing of safety and calm an love but also that she was very emotional, we went back there a few times and when she woke up she said 'it was really beautiful, I was on the beach with my two dogs and my [fiancée] and the beach was completely empty except for us and I could feel the beach, you know, like the wind and the water on my feet and I was so happy there that I felt like i had tears running down my face' 

After the gastric band part of the intervention I did the new behaviour generator with her, just briefly and her unconscious mind was blatantly on board with absolutely all the concepts and choices that her unconscious mind was taking it all in and processing things...I have another session in the offing in the next 10 days to 2 weeks then another and maybe another, then in that same time period I will be working with her wife-to-be and I can honestly say she was an absolute dream of a client and I can't wait to work on our next session. it was just fabulous! (again thanks for reading my tome!) next hypnotherapy day at the charity counselling centre is on Tuesday next week as in, 3 days’ time!!! Finally.... We have lift off!