THERAPY SUCCEEDS WHERE OTHERS FAIL

Trying innumerable diets and exercise regimes failed to make 'Gazette’ reporter Rose Pearce lose any weight.

But after a session of hypnotherapy with John Hudson of Thornbury, she found the scales moving steadily back towards her target weight, and in the first 48 hours she lost 4lb.

Using the reinforcing tape John gave her, for half and hour three times a week, Rose found it
much easier to eat smaller meals, but was still finding cutting down on social drinking very difficult!

Reprinted from The Gazette, Friday April 24th 1987

Visiting a hypnotherapist is a far cry from the cabaret image of levitation and performing outrageous tasks.

Although Thornbury’s hypnotherapist, John Hudson, has come across the victims of such acts during the course of his work.

“At least three of my patients have been on the stage, they all said that they knew exactly what was going on and could have stopped at any time, but just went along with it,” he said.

Hypnosis, he says, is a matter of co-operation: “If people are willing and have made up their minds, which they must have done to come to me in the first place, then there are no problems,” he explained.

As one who has wrestled with a weight problem for many years, I decided to find out just what suggestion therapy could do for me that a succession of diets and exercise routines had failed to accomplish.

There is no doubt I did have reservations about committing myself totally to someone else, but I found, as John explained, I was totally aware of everything around me.

At the start of the session, he asked me detailed questions about my personal life, family and worries.

ANXIETIES
Next we did a simple test to uncover my anxieties which in my case were not anything unusual.
A thorough examination of my past history of excess weight, diet and exercise habits followed, with John pinpointing the areas on which he would concentrate.

Prior to reclining into a comfortable position for deep relaxation, he strapped a sensor to the palm of my hand, to monitor the state of my relaxation.

To accompanying background music, he talked me through a series of calming and restful images, as I felt my body getting heavier, until my head rolled to one side.

I felt no wish to move, as though I was covered by a black blanket of sleep, but all the time I could hear not only his voice but background noises.

He told me firstly about improving my efficiency at work, general outlook on life, and the day to day difficulties encountered; then concentrated on my weight reducing programme.

John continued by telling me I would be satisfied with much smaller meals and far less to drink, since he had found my cardinal sin is social drinking.

I was told to visualise myself in a mirror, both as I am now and as I wished to look.
Before bringing me out of my deep state of relaxation, he added suggestions for my well being and several safeguards were built in his instructions for the use of the reinforcing tape he give all clients, for use at home.

SPECIALISED
Although suggestion therapy which I experienced is the bread and butter work, dealing with weight loss, smoking, examination nerves and other bad habits, John also works in more specialised fields.

During the course of analytical therapy, over a course of ten sessions, he has already found, in line with national thinking, very many cases of child abuse, from which stem the anxiety, depression and nervous conditions affecting adult clients.

“Children block our unpleasant memories from their mind, it is easier for them because they have a fantasy world,” he said.

Yet not all causes of anxiety are sexual child abuse, and it is not the event, but the child's perception of the event.

“The mind blocks the emotions to prevent the child from suffering the same feelings again.
“Very often someone comes and tells me they know what the cause of their problem is, but it usually turns out to be something which happened much earlier in their life,” he pointed out.

Patients are getting younger, now John sees more upwardly mobile, consultants, sales executives and representative often experiencing stomach problems, nervousness at meeting people or stress related problems.

Quoting Freud, he remarked:”To be a healthy person you have to be able to work and to love,” adding that nearly all problems start in childhood.

I questioned our ability as parents to raise children without inflicting some sort of damage. John pointed out it is not the event which harms, but the child's perception of it.

Yet another aspect of the work is with the terminally ill, helping them to communicate, getting them off drugs and making their lives more comfortable.

Guided imagery and visualisation techniques are use to boost the sufferer's immune system and AIDS patients in the States have claimed spectacular success.

As for myself, to be the disbelief of my colleagues, my intake of food has diminished dramatically and strangest of all, as John told me, my food would taste better and I would enjoy each mouthful more.