[mammasita]

Has anyone heard of this, tried it and succeded?

I'm not in any way affiliated with them, I'd just like some feedback.

Thanks
~T

[MrsJim]

I've done hypnosis, but not with them.

In a nutshell - VERY few people in my group had success losing weight with hypnosis. In fact, I was the only one out of, oh, maybe 20 women, who had any significant weight-loss. This was back in '96 - I did lose weight but didn't keep it off for the most part.

Here's a definition of hypnosis:

Hypnosis is a temporary condition of intense concentration during which suggestibility is greatly enhanced. This state may be used to increase the patient's control over a symptom or behavior. Hypnosis is not a treatment in itself but may accelerate the treatment process in properly selected cases. It has also been used for anesthesia during childbirth and dental procedures and for relief of headaches and other painful conditions. Because not everyone is amenable to hypnosis, the therapist should have adequate training in both the procedure and the selection of patients.

Hypnosis can be quite relaxing, but as a weight-loss tool, it's VERY overrated and overhyped IMO!

[huntress]

I joined their program a few years back, but did not have a good experience with them. The program was a little pricey and didn't really do me or my mom any good. Mostly it consisted of listening to cassette tapes (which they also peddled at $15 apiece, not included in the package) twice a week for 30 minutes each time. You only got to see the hypnotist once a month for a "personal" session, and he basically repeated the things said on the tapes. Unfortunately for us, the man who owned this one (they are a francise and are owned independantly) went bankrupt and closed about 2 months into our 8 month program.

I only lost a few pounds which came back almost immediately after they closed. This is just the experience that I had with them, it may be different for others.

[MrsJim]

Huh! Sounds pretty similar to MY experience with Master Key.

1) They opened a slew of offices in the Bay Area, and the Sunday paper had huge 1/2 page ads extolling their success with weight loss.

2) I had one "personal" session with the hypnotist - whom I liked very much - then once a week we had a 'group' session with about a dozen of us and the hypnotist.

3) We did get tapes included in the program, along with a diet (Dr. McDougall's Maximum Weight Loss Program - which is a VERY strict vegan diet - no animal products, no fat of any kind, no flour products, one piece of fruit a day, no soy products...but you can have all the veggies and potatoes you want). The cost, if memory serves, was $300 for two months.

4) The nice lady hypnotist left pretty quickly - she apparently wasn't getting paid or something like that - and during the three months I was there (I paid another $100 for an extra month) they must have gone through 4 hypnotists...

5) Very few of the clients lost much weight or were able to stay on such a strict diet - lots of grumbling after a month or so.

6) When I showed up for my last session - all us clients had to wait outside the door for 30 minutes until the guy showed up.

7) Soon after I stopped going, they went out of business...