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Hypnosis has caught on as a weapon in the battle of the bulge - and various vices.

And mental health experts say it’s drawing dieters to their doorsteps.

“I get more referrals from physicians than ever for habits like tobacco-use cessation, weight control, nail-biting and others,” said Dr. Douglas Bellamy, 64, a psychologist in Texas who has practiced hypnosis since the early 1980s.

“Hypnosis is becoming more recognized as an important technique in the treatment of many medical and psychological conditions.”

In turn, health professionals - from doctors to psychologists, dentists, social workers and nurses - are availing themselves of training through the American Society of Clinical Hypnosis, which has about 2,300 members.

“Based on the traffic on our Web-based referral database, the number of people seeking a practitioner who will use clinical hypnosis in their treatment is increasing,” said a spokeswoman for the society, based in the Chicago area.

Smoking cessation, labor and delivery, and weight loss generate the most interest. But requests also stream in from people with phobias or chronic pain, cancer patients and those dealing with mental health issues.

Statistics indicate that 65 percent of U.S. adults age 20 and older are overweight or obese. And more will be heading in this direction, cautions the American Obesity Association.

In counseling compulsive eaters, Dallas psychologist Dr. Harold Crasilneck “does an age regression,” said his wife, Sherry, who assists with research and his private practice.

“He goes back in time and space in their lives,” asking them to raise their thumb when they reach the point of onset, she said. Then they recall what happened to bring on the binging.

As the demand for hypnosis has mushroomed the last few years, Crasilneck has been “snowed with people who come to see him,” his wife said.

Many come to Crasilneck because of his expertise with burn victims. One patient, battling excruciating migraines, journeyed recently from Australia to consult the 84-year-old practitioner, who has sworn by hypnosis since 1953.

He also travels to train the burgeoning number of health professionals interested in the technique.

“The single most important thing in the use of hypnosis is the patient’s unconscious motivation,” said Crasilneck, clinical professor of psychiatry, anesthesiology and psychology at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School at Dallas.

“If that motivation isn’t there, it’s not going to work.” But when it is, experts say, hypnosis can work wonders.

“Hypnosis is a therapeutic technique that can provide the opportunity to access greater resources and strengths already within you,” said Deborah Beckman, a licensed professional counselor in Dallas.

She doesn’t use hypnosis directly to help clients shed excess pounds, quit smoking or dig for repressed memories. What she does is enable them to muster their inner resolve - and, remarkably, the will to manage their own health takes over.

“For many, I want to teach self-hypnosis as soon as possible to encourage further self-reliance,” said Beckman, 48, a practitioner of the technique since 1998.

“I also will work with artists and writers who are having some creative hiccups, if not outright blocks in their creative process,” she added.

Hypnosis can help with pain and stress management, anxiety, depression and disturbed sleep as well.

With so many medical office visits having a psychological basis, doctors often choose the referral option, said Dr. George R. Mount, 64, a Dallas psychologist who has offered hypnosis since 1974.

“I use it weekly” on about half of his clients, said Mount, past president of the North Texas Society of Clinical Hypnosis in Dallas (www.ntsch.com), a component of the national group. “Patients with anxiety-based disorders are a good example.”

Sessions last 50 minutes and incorporate cognitive behavioral techniques. Of that, 20 to 30 minutes are devoted to hypnosis, he said. Treatment length ranges from about eight to 10 visits.

Hypnosis also serves a purpose in forensics.

Mount employs it with witnesses and crime victims in law enforcement.

Bellamy uses hypnosis on a minority of patients, depending on the most suitable treatment. “I get requests for things that would be inappropriate, such as to find out if someone is deceitful,” he said. “Hypnosis is not a lie-detection tool.”

No special requirements must be met to practice, but most qualified hypnotists have training in a related field and are certified.

Bellamy became certified after completing a series of workshops sponsored by the American Society of Clinical Hypnosis. The organization trains only licensed health professionals with at least a master’s degree from an accredited university.

“I prefer the term `hypnotherapist’ since anyone - even without training or a license - can hang out a shingle as a `hypnotist,’” Bellamy said. “These people are unregulated and unaccountable to anyone, unfortunately.”

Qualified hypnotherapists are empathetic. They possess good communication skills and the ability to establish trusting relationships.

“This, of course, is true of any psychotherapeutic approach,” Mount said.

A multitude of routes can elicit an altered state of mind. But it’s up to each hypnotherapist “to discern how this client in front of me now will be able to engage in trance,” Beckman explained.

“When people feel helpless against something - be it a habit or a fear or something else - they look to find someone or something to fix it for them. Which is interesting when you think about it: It is still about them trying to do something even as they feel helpless or overwhelmed.”

source: dallasmorningnews