Suzi Jenner is a qualified clinical hypnotherapist, counsellor and weight loss coach with 13+ years working with women 40+.
I understand the scepticism. Hypnotherapy has an image problem, mostly thanks to stage shows involving people clucking like chickens and swinging pocket watches. None of that is what clinical hypnotherapy is, and none of it is what I do.
But I also think the overclaiming in the other direction doesn’t help. Hypnotherapy is not magic. It doesn’t bypass the need for any other work. And it won’t make you lose weight while you sleep.
Here’s what it actually does.
What hypnosis is (the non-mystical version)
Hypnosis is a state of focused relaxation in which the critical, analytical part of the conscious mind quietens down. You’ve been in this state many times – absorbed in a good book, driving a familiar route on autopilot, just before you fall asleep. It’s completely natural.
In that state, it becomes easier to introduce new ideas, images, and patterns directly to the subconscious mind. The part that runs your habits, your automatic responses, and your sense of identity.
You remain fully aware and in control throughout. No one can make you do or believe anything against your will or your values. You simply become more receptive to the suggestions that align with what you’re genuinely trying to create.
What hypnotherapy can do for weight loss
Stanford University researchers using brain imaging identified specific changes that occur during hypnosis – reduced activity in the brain’s worry centre, stronger connectivity between areas involved in self-control and body awareness, and reduced self-consciousness that can get in the way of change.
In practical terms, this means hypnotherapy can help interrupt the automatic patterns around food that run below conscious awareness. Emotional eating, nighttime snacking, the craving that appears not because you’re hungry but because you’re stressed – many of these are subconscious habits that respond well to subconscious-level work.
It’s also one of the most effective tools for identity work – for genuinely embedding a new sense of who you are, rather than just thinking about it intellectually. The subconscious mind works in images and emotions. Hypnotherapy speaks that language directly.
Research published in the International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis shows hypnosis combined with other therapeutic approaches produces meaningful, lasting weight loss results. A comprehensive 2024 meta-analysis found hypnosis highly effective for stress reduction and anxiety – both of which are central to emotional eating.
What hypnotherapy doesn’t do
It doesn’t remove the need for conscious effort, habit-building, or genuine engagement with your patterns and beliefs. It’s a tool that makes other change easier – not a replacement for it.
It also doesn’t work against your actual nature. If some part of you doesn’t genuinely want to change, hypnotherapy won’t override that. It can help align the parts of you that are running at cross-purposes. But it starts from where you actually are.
In my work, hypnotherapy sits within a broader process of coaching, inner work, and identity transformation. It’s a powerful part of the picture. Not the whole picture.
If you’ve been curious about it but put off by the performance version you’ve seen, consider what it actually is: a very deep conversation between you and your own subconscious mind. With a little help from someone who knows how to open that door.
Suzi Jenner is a qualified hypnotherapist, counsellor and weight loss coach based in Caversham, Western Australia. She is the author of The Balanced Mind Diet and creator of Weight Freedom Mastery. coachingwithsuzi.com
Curious to explore identity work? Jump to the Identity Shift Session page.
