Hypnosis, thanks to the movies and TV shows, the very word conjures up the image of a beady-eyed hypnotherapist swinging an old watch and chanting the words, "You are getting sleepy."

Do an Internet search and you will find several million pages devoted to the topic. Unfortunately, many websites that sell hypnosis programs make wild, unsubstantiated claims. I've been a hypnotherapist since 1978. So I think that I'm more than experienced enough to set the record straight on weight loss hypnosis.

First of all, post-hypnotic suggestion is a tool, just like a scalpel is a tool. Just as all surgeons have different levels of skill in the use of a scalpel, different hypnotists have varying levels of skill in the use of post-hypnotic suggestion. And to complicate the matter, there are many different types of post-hypnotic suggestion.

Here are just a few of the silly claims about weight loss hypnosis that I've seen on the Internet, along with the the real story:

"Hypnotic suggestion will speed up your metabolism." If you want to know the facts, the fact of the matter is that post-hypnotic suggestion will never directly speed up your metabolism. But it can be very useful at helping to re-program your subconscious mind with increased motivation to exercise. And that exercise will dramatically speed up your metabolic rate. Similarly, post-hypnotic suggestion to speed up the metabolism for quick weight loss can be effected by re-programming the subconscious mind to motivate the intake of increased amounts of protein, because that intake will step up the metabolic rate.

"Hypnotic suggestion will make you get rid of your excess weight." This is false. But post-hypnotic suggestion can be used to help case out your appetite, so that you eat less. And eating less can help you to get rid of your excess weight. The average person's appetite and urges for food and compulsion to eat are triggered by two unconscious programs:

A. When you combine eating with any other behavior, the other behavior will trigger cravings for food and a compulsion to eat. This is called a conditioned response. For example, if you eat when you talk on the phone, you will get an urge to eat each time you get on the phone.

B. When you feel stressed, you feel a strong compulsion to put something into your mouth for relaxation and pleasure. This is the result of programming that you received as an infant. When you got grouchy, your mom put a bottle in your mouth. You got distracted, relaxed, and probably fell asleep. Now when you get cranky (anxious or tense), you feel compelled to put something into your mouth for relaxation and pleasure.

C. There is a third unconscious program that is present for some people. It's called emotional eating. Emotional eating takes place when a person is motivated to make him or herself fat, because by being fat they will protect themselves in some way. For example, if a person gets their heart broken in a relationship, their subconscious mind might motivate them into a behavior that will prevent them from getting their heart broken again. Example: They are motivated to become overweight to keep them out of another relationship, because that will eliminate the possibility of another broken heart.

So just how can weight loss self-hypnosis fix the above problems? Click here to read the rest of this weight loss hypnosis article.

I've written several articles on this complex topic that available on my website. These articles illustrate some powerful techniques for using hypnotherapy for emotional eating.