What is the best therapy for Bulimia Nervosa?
In my experience the best therapy for Bulimia Nervosa is to address the key underlying psychological causes which mostly tend to relate to low self esteem and/or self/worth as well as a variety of suppressed emotions and/or limiting beliefs.
At the bottom of the page you will find references to a number of research studies demonstrating the effectiveness of hypnotherapy in the treatment of Bulimia Nervosa.
Tell me more about your Bulimia Nervosa treatment
I use advanced hypnotherapy techniques to provide fast and effective relief from Bulimia Nervosa.
Most clients experience significant relief within three to four sessions.
Nutritional advice is also available from our Naturopath.
With my 100% Money Back guarantee you have nothing to lose and everything to gain. You have seven days after your therapy to get your money back if you are not completely satisfied.
Call 9650-6520 Today To Make An Appointment!
How Can Releasing Suppressed Emotions Help With Bulimia Nervosa?
Firstly, I am not a medical professional. My treatment for Bulimia Nervosa is based on over twenty years experience as a Clinical Hypnotherapist.
I will now outline how I believe Bulimia Nervosa can be corrected through releasing suppressed emotions and limiting beliefs.
I believe every human being has three major components – Mind, Body and Spirit.
Your Body is your physical body that you are quite familiar with. It is the vehicle used by your Soul (your true identity) to experience the physical world we live in.
Your Mind is a powerful computer interface that allows your Soul to control your physical body and experience the world through your five physical senses – Sight, Sound, Taste, touch, Smell.
When I talk about the Mind, I refer to the brain, the entire nervous system as well as your genes. Together these components create a powerful computer network. It is kind of like your personal internet running your body and your interactions with the outside world.
The number one program that your Mind runs is SURVIVAL. This highest priority program is the same for every human being. It is hard coded into your DNA. If you don’t survive nothing else matters.
The drive for survival is translated into MINIMIZE PAIN (ongoing pain is associated with dying) and MAXIMIZE PLEASURE.
How Are Pleasure and Pain Related To Bulimia Nervosa?
Pleasure and Pain or rather perceived pleasure and pain are related to all of our decision making. We make the choices that we believe will maximize pleasure and minimize pain in our life. Many of these daily choices are made without conscious awareness. Most of our choices are made habitually by our unconscious mind.
What Does All This Have To Do With Bulimia Nervosa Treatment?
My theory is that most cases of Bulimia Nervosa originate from suppressed emotions that are distorting our ability to make beneficial choices. Suppressed emotions can trigger painful associations (mostly at an unconscious level) that sabotage our decision making. It is not so much that the decision making is faulty. The problem is that the data used to make decisions is flawed. What makes it worse the data causing the problem is effectively invisible to the conscious mind.
Since the emotional triggers at the root of the problem are largely invisible to the conscious mind it is difficult to correct the problem without outside assistance. With proper guidance the unconscious mind can quickly remedy the situation.
Bulimia Nervosa is a symptom not the underlying cause. When the underlying mental/emotional causes are resolved then the symptom of Bulimia Nervosa also disappears and your enjoyment of life increases.
With my 100% Money Back guarantee you have nothing to lose and everything to gain. You have seven days after your therapy to get your money back if you are not completely satisfied.
Call 9650-6520 Today To Make An Appointment!
Bulimia Nervosa Hypnotherapy Research
Griffiths treated bulimic patients with 4 weeks of behavioral therapy highlighting self-monitoring to establish healthy eating patterns, followed by 4 weeks of hypnotherapy to enhance self-control of bingeing and vomiting episodes. There was a significant reduction in both bingeing and vomiting measured in 6 weeks and in two years. Eight of the 14 participants (57%) were abstinent from bingeing and 10 (71%) were abstinent from vomiting for 3 months prior to the 2-year follow-up. These results suggest that adding a self-hypnosis component subsequent to a behavioral treatment may aid participants in maintaining their progress.
The addition of hypnosis to Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) revealed significantly less binge frequency and compensatory behavior frequency at posttreatment among the CBT+Hypnosis group than the CBT group (Barga & Barabasz (in press). The hypnotic suggestions were built based on Barabasz’s work (1990) on posthypnotic suggestions for creating awareness in individuals with bulimia which included (a) triggers precipitating urges to binge and to engage in compensatory behaviors, (b) negative consequences of bingeing/engaging in compensatory behaviors and benefits of not bingeing/not engaging in compensatory behaviors, (c) the participant’s control and choice over bingeing and engaging in compensatory behaviors, and (d) rational thinking about the participant’s body weight and shape. The participants were instructed to practice these hypnotic suggestions at least once daily.
Maryelln Crowley and Anna Campion reviewing the treatment of bulimia and obesity in the book Essentials of Clinical Hypnosis: An Evidence-Based Approach, edited by Lynn and Kirsh (2006) described how hypnosis can be used as an adjunct to cognitive-behavior therapy for bulimia. Their treatment protocol includes three stages. In stage one of ten sessions, in addition to education, development of alternative methods of weight control and teaching self-monitoring, hypnosis can be used with posthypnotic suggestions for self-monitoring of dysfunctional behavior and focusing on the benefits of change. Hypnosis can also help clients become more interpersonally oriented and less focused on food and eating behavior. Stage two consists of eight sessions focusing on cognitive restructuring aimed to reinforce that the root of the problem, is very often, extreme dietary rules. The hypnotic component is used to help clients reintroduce forbidden foods gradually and with control. Stage three is oriented to helping clients to set realistic expectations and develop plans to deal with urges to binge or purge. Thus, hypnosis can be a valuable adjunct to behavior and cognitive therapy of bulimia.
Barabasz, M (1990) Treatment of bulimia with hypnosis involving awareness and control in clients with high dissociative capacity. International Journal of Psychosomatics, 37, 53-56.
Barga, J & Barabasz, M (in press). Effects of Hypnosis as an adjunct to Cognitive-Behavior therapy in the treatment of Bulimia. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis. In Barabasz, M (2007) Efficacy of hypnotherapy in the treatment of Eating Disorders. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 55(3):318-335.
Griffifths, RA. (1995) Two-year follow-up findings of hypnobehavioral treatment for bulimia nervosa. Australian Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 23 (2), 135-144.
Lynn SJ & Kirsch I (2006) Essentials of clinical Hypnosis: An evidence-based approach. Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Association.