News Articles » – A LOSING PROPOSITION

THE SUNCOAST NEWS, –November 12, 2005 (reprinted)

A LOSING PROPOSITION
By William Burr, Suncoast News Staff – Tarpon Springs

Hypnosis seminars aim to help those with ‘weighty’ problems,

Retailers are not the only people who see an increase in business around the holidays.

Rena Greenberg, found and director of Wellness Seminars, Inc., who offers weight-control assistance through hypnosis at Helen Ellis Memorial Hospital, sees an attendance increase starting in November.

“The busiest time of the year is right after the new year,” she said, “but many people want to look their best for the holidays. There’s never a bad time to lost weight.”

Greenberg says she has helped more than 100,000 people lost weight and stop smoking since 1989. She has been holding seminars at hospitals throughout Florida for more than 15 years.

The purpose of the hypnosis, she says, is to help a person change the way they think about food subconsciously.

“When we change our thoughts about food, our behavior naturally changes as well. After the hypnosis, people say they find themselves choosing healthier foods, eating smaller portions and increasing activity level,” Greenberg said.

However, she admits, some people are apprehensive about being placed under hypnosis and skeptical about long-term benefits.

“That is because of the way the media has portrayed hypnosis over the years,” she said.

“Hypnosis gives potential access to subconscious habits developed over many years. We use hypnosis to change all the programming that causes us to behave in ways that are harmful to ourselves.”

Greenberg says the program’s success rate can only be measured by individual achievement, not by statistics and studies

Jerry Touchton, director of community relations for Helen Ellis Hospital, touted Greenberg’s seminars.

“We have had positive response from our staff that participated in an in-house seminar we held, so we decided to offer it to the community,” he said.

Greenberg’s next seminar at Helen Ellis Hospital is Nov. 19, 1-3 p.m. She is also conducting a smoking cessation seminar the same day from 10 a.m. to noon.

The cost of each seminar is $69, which includes an audiocassette tape or compact disc, a behavior modification booklet and unlimited free repetitions of the hypnosis in the future, if needed.

Participants who sign up online at www.easywillpower.com save $10.

For registration information, call (800) 848-2822.

Greenberg was a biofeedback therapist in private practice at the Hospital of Joint Diseases in New York City before founding Wellness Seminars. Her first book, “The Right Weigh: Six Steps to Permanent Weight Loss,” is to be released on Jan. 1.

“The book is a mind-body-spirit approach to weight loss focusing on losing weight from the inside-out,” said Greenberg, who wrote the book as a six-step approach to help people achieve permanent weight loss.

released Jan. 2.