Use of Hypnosis for Weight Reduction in a Group of Nurses

Abstract

The use of hypnosis in weight reduction is particularly effective for those who have tried other methods with little or no success. The experiences set down in this chronicle may aid others who have not tried it. At the request of many nurses at Memorial Hospital, Houston, Texas, for aid in losing weight and because of the economic and practical impossibility of assisting these nurses singly, it was decided to hold classes and use mass hypnosis as the aid for controlling appetite. Criteria for joining the class were: (a) desire to lose weight and the previous failure of attaining desired weight loss by other methods; (b) the individual must be at least 20 pounds overweight. Twenty-seven registered and student nurses signed up for the class. Meetings were to be held once weekly, each session to be at 1: 00 P. M. and expected to last less than a half hour. “Weighing in” preceded the group session, and at this time each nurse reported her weekly calorie intake. Each nurse’s loss or gain in weight was noted and posted on a chart which could be seen by any in the group. Each nurse was provided with a small calorie counter, a 1,000 calorie diet, and suggested menus. The first meeting was held January 14, 1959, with the entire 27 in attendance. Most of the time was spent in orientation and explanation of hypnosis and dispelling many of the common misconceptions about hypnosis. None of the 27 had ever been hypnotized, nor had hypnosis ever been tried on them. The author had used hypno-