Virtual Gastric Band Study Results Show Great Promise

Back a few months ago I wrote about gastric band weight loss surgery and procedures offering an alternative to the surgery using hypnosis. One of these is the Virtual Gastric Band procedure from Sheila Granger.

Recently a study on Virtual Gastric Band was concluded in Milford Massachusetts. The study was organized by Virtual Gastric Band of New England. The Milford study results along with some participant feedback can be found at the VGB New England web site here.

The study consisted of 10 participants and was led by Erika Slater, CH. The study obtained similar results to those performed elsewhere in U.S. and in Europe.

However, what is interesting about this study is it was conducted over the holiday season normally a difficult time for people to lose weight. Slater said the participants were all committed to the program and comfortable with the process.

While the hypnosis sessions are complete as part of the study the participants will be followed during the next twelve months with regularly progress check-ins.

Slater say’s “the Virtual Gastric Band method is not another diet plan but instead teaches you to be satisfied with smaller portions of food at meal times.”  “Unlike weight loss surgery,” Slater added “the Virtual Gastric Band Procedure is available to anyone who wishes to achieve lasting significant weight loss regardless of whether or not they’re candidates for weight-loss surgery.”

Weight loss is a huge issue and topic in this country and this is one story I’ll be following over the next year, and I’ll be interested to see if the initial results of the study group continues the progress over the next year.

Erika Slater is offering private and group sessions in the procedure and you can find out more information about her Virtual Gastric Band Boston Massachusetts service here.

Samantha

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Shedding Pounds with the Virtual Gastric Band

Last week I looked at the pioneering work of the Shirran’s and their Gastric Mind Band^TM program. Today I’ll cover the work of Sheila Granger and her Virtual Gastric Band Program.

Just as  a recap for you, these therapies make use of hypnosis and powerful imagery, along with behavioral modifications, to convince your unconscious mind you’ve had Gastric Band surgery with the intent of losing weight by taking in lesser amounts of food at each meal.

A U.K. clinical hypnotherapist named Sheila Granger has developed her own Virtual Gastric Band technique. Granger has quoted a 95 percent rate of success with those who have already attempted her weight loss hypnosis procedure.

While little details are generally available about the actual technique, it uses the power of clinical hypnosis to convince the human mind that a gastric band has been fitted into the stomach. This leads to is a feeling of fullness that will happen much faster than in the past while you’re consuming food. This is exactly what happens when gastric band surgery is done for real.

Advantages to the virtual gastric band hypnosis are that it’s less expensive than the real surgery, and because it doesn’t involve an invasive surgical procedure, there are no risks  connected to having a general anesthetic as none is administered. As described earlier the “surgery” is performed only in the subconscious where your desire to eat (and over consume) lives. This technique, as previously mentioned, is non-surgical in nature and uses the power inherent in hypnosis to train both the mind as well as the body to take in a lesser amount of food at each sitting. It works by conveying a message to the brain that the stomach is satiated and does not require any more food.

If “adjustments” need to be made to the virtual gastric band then they can be done relatively easily. Best of all, there is no pain and no recovery time required. There is also no ongoing medical treatment required and the therapy can be done privately, comfortably and best of all – rapidly!

According to Granger, the majority of her clients have benefited from the virtual gastric band treatment. She pioneered this therapy in the United Kingdom as a component of her weight loss hypnotherapy program. Granger is scheduled to visit NYC in mid-October to discuss her techniques with other hypnotherapists keen to understand her techniques and the reasons for her claimed success rates.

Samantha

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Gastric Band Hypnosis – A Different Approach to Weight Loss

You can never doubt the benefit of open communication. It was a client who asked if it was possible to be hypnotized to believe she had had a gastric band fitted to lose weight that inspired the development of a program of weight management for life – the Gastric Mind Band^TM

The gastric mind band (GmB) therapy is the mental version of gastric band surgery done through hypnosis. The development of this hypnotic version of the gastric band was developed by Martin and Marion Shirran at their Elite Clinic in Spain. Since then other methods have become available such as Hypno-Band^TM and the more recent Virtual Gastric Band Hypnosis method.

There are many readers of this blog seeking information about alternatives to weight loss and today I’ll focus on the Shirran’s program and look into other techniques in further posts.

Are you overweight or obese? Have you tried every diet plan and program around only to be disappointed with the results? Have you ever considered trying gastric band surgery? This type of surgery is not right for everyone. However gastric band hypnosis does not involve any surgery. Instead what takes place is a unique therapy that combines cognitive behavior therapy (CBT), deep, hypnotherapy, guided imagery and NLP.

Consider this scenario for a moment. A person who suffers from obesity is contemplating having gastric bypass surgery but has some reservations about the weight loss operation. Instead of heading to the hospital the person visits the Elite Clinic. After sitting down and getting comfortable with the therapist they are then taken through a virtual reality kind of experience which combines the techniques described in the paragraph above.

This virtual reality experience involves the patient being fitted with a gastric band. The individual wakes up and believes they underwent the gastric bypass surgery. They can even recall elements of being in the operating room before they received the general anesthesia. They remember the sights, the sounds and the smells.

Now, sitting in the chair they look down at their stomach and touch it gingerly. They look at the therapist sitting across from them incredulously. Did this really happen or were they dreaming? Or were they hypnotized to believe it happened?

Oh it happened all right in their mind … just not on an operating table in a hospital.

The initial results from gastric band hypnosis, although mostly anecdotal, are promising. It has been touted as a long-term means of losing weight and maintaining the loss.

Both Martin and Marion Shirran possess diplomas in Clinical Hypnosis and are certified and registered with the American Board and British Institute of Hypnotherapy. Marion is a member of the UK IBS Register.

In 2005 Martin received additional training and from it gained a primary certification in R.E.B.T. (Cognitive Behavior Therapy) at the School of Psychology at Birmingham University. He is also a member of the United Kingdom Society for the Behavioural Medicine and the International Hypnosis Research Institute.

The Shirrans were recently profiled in an ABC News video and intend to be offering their services in NYC.

Samantha

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