Hypnotherapy helped Carrie shrink from 21st to 14 st

CARRIE FINDLAY has enjoyed slimming down after she was given Virtual Gastric Band Therapy gift vouchers from her mum.

Carrie is thrilled that hypnotherapy has helped her lose weight.
A MUM lost seven stone after she was hypnotised into thinking she had been fitted with a gastric band.

Carrie Findlay weighed 21st a year ago.

But after four sessions of hypnotherapy, she is down to 14st.

Army wife Carrie said she felt transformed after the first session.

She added: “From the moment I got home, I started eating off a side plate and have done ever since.

“I’ve tried every diet but this works for me.”

In 2011, Carrie’s mum gave her a Christmas gift of vouchers for Virtual Gastric Band (VGB) therapy at an Edinburgh clinic run by Andrew Farquharson.

Carrie, of Dreghorn, Ayrshire, said: “My mum asked me what I wanted as a gift and I said nothing, not until I’ve lost some weight.

“On Christmas Day, she gave me a voucher for the clinic.

“I believed it could work for me because I’m an emotional eater.

“My husband Jamie is in the Army and is on a seven-month tour of Afghanistan. Sometimes, I would comfort-eat when I was on my own.”

NHS Lothian clerk Carrie, who is mum to Ryan, seven, and three-year-old Ellis, said the vouchers were the best present she has ever had.

She added: “Andrew asked me to imagine myself thin. I pictured myself in a black polka-dot dress. Now, I’m wearing that polka-dot dress.”

Andrew runs the Hypnotherapy Now clinic in Morningside.

He believes VGB therapy could save the NHS millions of pounds.

The former teacher said: “This is not a diet. The client does not have to deny themselves any particular food. You just eat smaller amounts.

“The process involves the person going into hypnosis and using their imagination to believe they have had a gastric band fitted at the top part of their stomach.

“Clients will start to eat a more healthy diet. They have to put some effort into taking control of their heating habits.”

The therapy involves four sessions at weekly intervals and a CD to reinforce what is done at the sessions.

Andrew says that after four weeks, clients should see a permanent change in the way they think about food, with around 85 per cent losing weight.

He added: “If this was done on the NHS, it would save millions of pounds. And it is safe – no chance of infections or complications.”

Having a gastric band fitted – which can aid weight loss by making the patient feel full – costs around £9000.