Eating Disorders

Any time that we routinely do something that we don’t consciously wish to do (like binge eating), or we don’t do something which we consciously know that we should do (like eating enough to stay healthy), it is because our subconscious mind has a different agenda to our conscious mind. And because our subconscious is considerably more powerful than our conscious mind, it generally wins the battle.

As with so many other psychological conditions, the answer does not lie in using willpower to try to override our subconscious beliefs. The answer is to hypnotise the client and ask their subconscious mind to disclose the rationale for their behaviour, and then challenge it. It is perfectly possible to have a rational discussion with the subconscious, and convince it that it is in the client’s best interests to change the behaviour.

For example, I have helped many clients to overcome anorexia, and I have often found that the feeling of life being out of control has been the trigger that initiated the pattern of disordered eating. They take over-control of their eating to prove to themselves that they do at least have some autonomy in their life. With clients like this it can be totally counter-productive to urge them to eat, because they have to ‘not eat’ to prove to themselves that they are not being controlled by the other person. This can be a very frightening condition, but the good news is that it is completely resolvable!