I'm a huge emotional eater - will hypnotherapy help?

[adelicatequestion]

I am a massive comfort/emotiobnal eater.

I have lost a stone recently but still am a whacking 18.5 stone.

I am seriously considering hynotherapy to see if it will help, but am terrified they will put thoughts into my mind and I won;t be in control of myself.

Does anyone have any experience of hypnotherapy and how did it work.

I've heard horror stories of people bwing clinically depressed after it.

TIA

I went for hypnotherapy and it's not like when you can't remember anything afterwards, I can pretty much remember everything that we talked about. You are in control, and are just in a more relaxed state and supposed to be operating on a more subconscious level but you are still actually conscious, iykwim. I don't know if it works for everyone (it didn't seem to have a great effect on me) but it's definitely not scary or sinister. They don't try and "reprogram" you, but you might find that if there are deeper emotional reasons for you eating, they might be hard to deal with.
A good hypnotherapist will talk to you for free before a session about any worries that you've got, explain what they will do and so on. Don't see anyone you're not comfortable with.
Good luck!

Thanks NiftyNanny

I think there are deeper issues but I am now aware of them all and need to move forward and this is where the sticking point is.

Was it for eating you went to see one? (answer if you want)

I tried hypnotherapy for help with weightloss with 2 different therapists and unfortunately it did nothing for me at all. Having said that, on reflection I shouldn't really be surprised as I am quite sceptical of this type of thing so I guess it's no wonder it had no effect on me - duh!

I am also an emotional eater and have tried most things (appetite suppressants, slimming clubs etc) and the only thing that worked for me was a sensible diet and the gym 3 times a week. I lost nearly 5 stones doing this. Personal life wise, I was in a very "settled" phase with little stress which I think helped with getting my head around losing weight.

Now, the weight has gone back on again and I just can't get started on losing it again. I really think I need to try something like Cognitive Based Therapy as I eat to damp down emotions and stress ( life is no longer "settled and stress free"!).

Have you considered this option? It's not cheap and doesn't seem to be available on the NHS ( certainly in my area anyway) but I know a couple of people who have used this and have had very good results.

Misspiggy - how many sessions did you have?

I have tried lots of different methods. I had CBT for panic attacks after my DD1 was born and it worked well.

I am hesitant - not sceptical though but am worried. As well as being obese, I also suffer alot with anxiety ans enormous stresses.

I just wish I was emotionally balanced and could view food as a requirement to live and not as a "treat" in the hope it would make me feel better.

It sounds like you need to get to the root of your anxiety. Did you have a difficult childhood? might be worth getting a referral to a psychologist or counsellor from your gp....

Lots of childhood issues including abuse and others.

I had just one session with the first therapist as I didn't feel particularly comfortable with her. She seemed to find it difficult to understand how I could eat even when not hungry and seemed amazed that I could be constantly picking at food when preparing supper, saying "but aren't you too busy cooking to be snacking as well?" and seeming a bit shocked by this. I felt she didn't really appreciate what "comfort eating" is so decided not to go back.

I had 3 sessions with the second therapist who was a lot more understanding and very easy to talk to but the actual hypnotherapy just didn't seem to do anything for me at all.

I'm sorry to hear about your childhood ADQ. I had a bad time as well and used food as an "anaesthetic" IYKWIM and this habit has followed me into adulthood.

If you had good results with CBT for your panic attacks is it worth investigating it again for help with controlling your eating?

Yes, I am investigating several things at the moment

CBT
Emotional FreedoM TEchnique and
Timeline Therapy/NLP

I need to find out more about them.

DH has now got some private healthcare which includes some of the above and I'm getting to the stage I need to get it sorted.