Solution Focused Hypnotherapy for Weight Management
Improve Your Relationship with Food and Feel Back in Control
Struggling with weight is rarely just about food. For many people, it is closely linked to stress, emotions, habits, self-belief, and the way the brain responds to pressure.
Solution focused hypnotherapy offers a gentle, practical, and supportive approach to weight management — helping you change your relationship with food, reduce emotional eating, and build healthier patterns without restriction, guilt, or punishment.
Does This Sound Familiar?
You may recognise some of the following:
Emotional or stress-related eating
Feeling out of control around food
Comfort eating when tired, anxious, or overwhelmed
Repeated dieting with short-term results
Guilt, shame, or self-criticism around eating
Difficulty listening to hunger and fullness cues
All-or-nothing thinking with food
Low confidence or frustration about weight
If so, you are not failing. These patterns are often driven by how the brain copes with stress and emotions, not a lack of willpower.
Weight and the Brain: Why Willpower Isn’t Enough
When the brain is under stress, it looks for quick sources of comfort and safety. Food—especially high-sugar or high-fat foods—can temporarily soothe the nervous system.
Over time, this can create:
Automatic eating habits
Emotional reliance on food
Cycles of restriction and overeating
Reduced awareness of hunger and fullness
Lasting weight management often requires calming the stress response, not fighting it.
What Is Solution Focused Hypnotherapy?
Solution focused hypnotherapy is a forward-focused therapeutic approach that combines:
Solution focused brief therapy techniques
Neuroscience-based psychoeducation
Clinical hypnosis
Rather than analysing past experiences or focusing on food rules, this approach helps the brain:
Regulate stress more effectively
Break unhelpful habit loops
Build healthier, more supportive behaviours
The focus is on progress, not perfection.
How Can Hypnotherapy Help with Weight Management?
Solution focused hypnotherapy does not prescribe diets or meal plans. Instead, it supports the mental and emotional patterns that influence eating behaviour.
Hypnotherapy can help to:
Reduce emotional and stress-related eating
Improve awareness of hunger and fullness
Break habits around mindless eating
Reduce guilt and shame around food
Improve self-control without restriction
Build confidence and motivation
Support consistency and balance
Many people find that when their stress levels reduce, their eating naturally becomes more balanced.
Improving Your Relationship with Food
A healthy relationship with food is not about rigid control—it is about trust, awareness, and flexibility.
Solution focused hypnotherapy helps you:
Let go of all-or-nothing thinking
Reduce food anxiety and obsession
Feel calmer and more in control around eating
Make choices from self-care rather than self-criticism
This approach supports sustainable change rather than short-term weight loss.
A Gentle, Non-Judgemental Approach
Weight and food can be deeply personal and emotional topics. Sessions are delivered in a supportive, respectful, and non-judgemental environment.
There is:
No weigh-ins
No food shaming
No pressure to disclose more than you’re comfortable with
The aim is to support long-term wellbeing, not quick fixes.
What Happens in a Solution Focused Hypnotherapy Session?
Each session is calm, confidential, and structured.
Sessions typically include:
Gentle discussion around goals and current challenges
Simple explanations of how habits and stress affect eating
Guided relaxation and hypnosis to support change
Practical strategies to reinforce healthier patterns
You remain fully aware and in control at all times. Hypnosis is not sleep and does not involve loss of control.
Meet Laura
My name is Laura Bartlett and I am a Solution Focused Hypnotherapist and Psychotherapist, with a strong academic and professional background in psychology and evidence-based therapy. I hold a BSc (Hons) in Psychology from Royal Holloway, University of London, alongside a Diploma in Solution Focused Hypnotherapy and a Hypnotherapy in Practice Diploma.
I am a registered member of the Association for Solution Focused Hypnotherapy (AfSFH), fully insured, and hold an enhanced DBS certificate — so you can be confident you are working with a qualified, professional, and ethical practitioner.
Before retraining as a therapist, I spent 20 years working in the London corporate world as an insurance broker. With an Advanced Diploma in Insurance (ACII) and a Level 3 Diploma in Management and Leadership, my approach is practical, grounded, and evidence-informed.
Registered member of associations that you can trust
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AfSFH
Membership Number: 2625
The Association for Solution Focused Hypnotherapists provides the public with the only dedicated register for Solution Focused Hypnotherapists, and all listed members must be appropriately qualified and insured and abide by the Code of Conduct and professional standards.
As a professional governing body, AfSFH set and monitor standards to ensure all our therapists adhere to the hallmarks of best practice.
All AfSFH registered members are required to engage in at least 21 hours of additional professional development activities per year, including undertaking regular supervision and further training as part of their continuous professional development.
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NCH
Membership Number: 12094
The National Council for Hypnotherapy holds one of the largest registers of independent Hypnotherapists in the United Kingdom and strives to maintain the highest standards among its members.
There is an agreed Code of Conduct, an established Complaints & Disciplinary Procedure and all members are obliged to maintain comprehensive Public Liability & Professional Indemnity Insurance, maintain regular CPD (continuing professional development) hours, and attend Supervision when needed.
A Real Client Story: “I Can’t Believe I No Longer Crave Sweets”
(Details changed for confidentiality reasons)
Steve came to see me wanting to achieve an alteration in his eating habits. He was overweight, didn’t like how he looked and worst of all just felt “heavy” and unhealthy all of the time.
He had tried many diets over the years without long-term effect. He always felt like he was being deprived of pleasure and any loss of weight was short-term.
Steve found it difficult at first not to focus on his weight and eating habits. He was used to counting calories and being encouraged to take more exercise.
Instead, we focused on reducing stress and supporting his nervous system.
When stress levels are high, the brain remains stuck in survival mode, which intensifies cravings and makes it harder to stick to good habits.
Using deep relaxation and solution focused techniques, Steve’s nervous system began to settle. As his stress levels reduced Steve found that he wasn’t even craving sweet things anymore. In fact when a client gifted Steve a box of his favourite jelly beans they remained in his desk drawer until he eventually gave them to his colleagues.
“I just didn’t even want them anymore”
Client Testimonials
“Laura is so supportive, not judgemental, everything you should expect in therapy. Laura is also very down to earth, straight talking, and just so good to be around and be helped by. Highly recommended. My problem was alcohol and caffeine drink cycle. For about 6 weeks (just 2 weeks into sessions) and I don't even 'want' it. Which is how I wanted to feel. And Laura fixed it for me :)” — TB, Female, 58
“Through working with Laura I achieved resolution to my unhealthy eating habits. Believe in the process, understand the process and commit. For me, the results followed ..........” — CB, Male, 65
Flexible Sessions - in-person or remote
I understand that life is busy. Initial consultations and subsequent sessions can be in-person, remote or a combination of the two - whatever works best for you
In-person sessions in a relaxing private environment
Solution focused hypnotherapy in the local areas of Hadleigh, Leigh-on-Sea, Benfleet, Chalkwell, Southend-on-Sea, Canvey Island, Dunton, Laindon, Basildon, Horndon on the Hill, Corringham, Stanford-le-Hope, Pitsea, Thundersley, Hockley, Hawkwell, Rochford, Westcliff-on-Sea, Wickford and Rayleigh.
The surrounding area includes Hadleigh Country Park and Hadleigh Castle.
There is plenty of off-street parking available and the nearest train stations are Benfleet (c2c line), Leigh-on-Sea (c2c line) and Rayleigh (Great Anglia line).
Therapy sessions work equally well over Zoom
Live too far away or struggle to fit in travel time? Do you not drive or just prefer sessions in the comfort of your own home?
As well as in-person sessions, Brighter Future Therapy Practice also offers online sessions anywhere in the world. Hypnotherapy has been shown to be equally effective in person or virtually.
To date Brighter Future have helped people in Australia, Canada and America. And virtual sessions have also been carried out with clients throughout the UK.
Frequently Asked Questions About Hypnotherapy and Weight Management
Can hypnotherapy help emotional eating?
Yes. Solution focused hypnotherapy can be very effective in helping with emotional and stress-related eating.
Emotional eating is often the brain’s way of coping with stress, fatigue, anxiety, or overwhelm. Hypnotherapy helps by calming the stress response, increasing awareness of emotional triggers, and breaking automatic eating patterns.
Rather than relying on willpower, this approach supports the brain in developing healthier coping strategies, making it easier to respond to emotions without turning to food.
Will hypnotherapy make me lose weight?
Hypnotherapy does not guarantee weight loss and is not a quick fix.
Instead, solution focused hypnotherapy supports the behaviours, habits, and mindset that influence weight, such as emotional eating, stress, self-sabotage, and low motivation. Many people find that when these patterns change, weight loss can happen naturally and more sustainably.
The focus is on long-term wellbeing and consistency, not chasing a number on the scales.
Is this about dieting?
No. Solution focused hypnotherapy is not about dieting, restriction, or rigid food rules.
There are no meal plans, calorie counting, or “good” and “bad” foods. The emphasis is on improving your relationship with food, learning to listen to hunger and fullness cues, and reducing guilt or anxiety around eating.
This approach aims to support balanced, sustainable choices rather than short-term dieting cycles.
Is this the same as a virtual gastric band?
No. Solution focused hypnotherapy for weight management is not a virtual gastric band.
A virtual gastric band approach uses hypnosis to suggest physical restriction, mimicking surgical weight-loss procedures. Solution focused hypnotherapy takes a very different approach. It does not attempt to create a sense of physical limitation or control eating through suggestion alone.
Instead, the focus is on changing the mental and emotional patterns that influence eating behaviour—such as stress, habits, emotional triggers, and self-belief. The aim is to support sustainable, long-term change by helping the brain regulate stress more effectively and develop healthier coping strategies.
This approach prioritises wellbeing, flexibility, and a healthier relationship with food, rather than restriction or rapid weight loss.