Hypnotherapy for positive body image
We live in a society that seems to treasure physical beauty above all else. But only a certain kind of physical beauty, and I think it’s true to say that whatever else is different about you – skin colour, hair type, style, height – society will consider you more acceptable if you are thinner. But not too thin! Don’t be too thin. But not too fat. Well OK you can be a bit bigger if you like, but make sure you still have a flat stomach, and your boobs aren’t saggy… and on and on and on…
It’s exhausting. I can’t pretend that I’m not influenced by all this too. It’s so pervasive. Weight loss is often talked about as some form of combat: women ‘struggle’ with their weight. Celebrities win and lose their ‘battles’ with the pounds. And it’s true that there is a fight to be had, but in my view the fight is not with your own body, the fight is with a society that places a different value on you, a human being, depending on how much flesh you have on certain parts of your body. Usually the same person is worth more, the less of her there is.
In this context , it can be really hard work trying to keep in your mind that it’s OK to be you however you look.
Will hypnotherapy help me lose weight?
So, while I absolutely know that hypnotherapy can be effective for helping people to lose weight, that’s not what I’m interested in doing. I don’t want to be part of that culture. If you need to lose weight for health or medical reasons, then sure, that makes sense, and I’ll be with you all the way. But if you’re a size 16 and your goal is to be a size 12 because you just think you should be thinner– I’m not the therapist for you.
I’m interested in working to help people have a better relationship with their actual bodies, the ones they already have, and that’s not about simple weight loss. I enjoy helping people think about what their body is there for, what it does for them, and how they can look after it so it can serve them best. That will mean thinking about what you eat, how and when you eat it, and how you live your life more generally. When we learn to value ourselves, we want to treat our bodies well and give them what they need. That will help us to feel better mentally and emotionally, which in turn means we feel stronger, making it easier to make those good decisions about what to put in our bodies. Weight loss might well be a side-product of this process, but it’s not the goal.
Our shared goal will be for you to learn to love the body you have, appreciate what it does for you, and treat it kindly. The health benefits will follow, naturally.