News Articles » – Classes help take pounds off and break smoking routine

Clay Today

Classes help take pounds off and
break smoking routine

By Jan Kessler, Staff
Clay Today
(Edited & Reprinted)

Do you remember your mother telling you about the “starving children in China” that would love to have the food you refused to eat at dinner? Do you sometimes now feel as though you are eating enough to feed a third-world country and want to eat healthy and lose weight? If so, Orange Park Medical Center (OPMC) has the seminar for you.

The two-hour seminar will combine hypnosis and behavior modification to help people lose weight and keep it off.

A second seminar for those wanting to stop smoking will convene at the same time and place.

“The approach is the same for both seminars,” said Rena Greenberg, president of Wellness Seminars, Inc. “The focus is just different.”

The first 45 minutes of the seminar is free with the participants learning how to lose weight by controlling overeating, binging, snacking and emotional eating. Stress management techniques such as deep breathing, stretching and positive thinking is also taught.

The smoking cessation seminar will help participants learn to set goals, be assertive and enthusiastic about quitting and hypnotic conditioning. The program features an abrupt cessation of the habit. Greenberg expects each participant to leave a non-smoker.

Hypnosis is also used for those participants who feel comfortable using it and can pay a $59 fee. This fee also allows participants to attend the session again if needed at no extra charge.

“Some people seem to have the need for reinforcement and will be able to return for another session after taking the session the first time and paying the fee,” Greenberg said.

She said hypnosis is a totally safe and clinically proven technique that relies on the participant’s ability to concentrate and use their imaginative skills. Hypnosis is a state of deep concentration and deep relaxation where positive suggestions and images are administered to facilitate the desired change of behavior. The participant is always aware and in control at all times.

“The hypnosis is what I attribute to the success rate,” Greenberg said. “They change with the power of their own mind. The seminar is not magic, but it gives people another viewpoint than can change their lives. No one can force someone to be hypnotized. It is like a relaxed state and you have to be open-minded to allow yourself to fall into it.”

In addition, the use of an audiocassette tape reinforces what participants have experienced at the seminar; one side of Greenberg’s tape employs hypnosis and is meant to be played in a comfortable setting. The second side has music with positive suggestions. Written material is also included and gives hints, tips and the strategy for success with the program. The literature explains what to expect both physically and psychologically and how to deal with the situations or feelings that might arise. It also explains the positive bodily changes that occur.

Wellness Seminars have been offered since 1990 to the employees of major Florida corporations, city governments and more than 40 Florida hospitals.

Greenberg is a graduate of City University of New York at Brooklyn College. She worked as a biofeedback therapist in private practice and at the Hospital of Joint Disease in New York City.

Greenberg also holds certifications in hypnosis from The Eastern NLP Institute and the National Guild of Hypnotists, as well as Biofeedback Certification Institute of America. She is also certified as a Practitioner of Neuro Linquistic Programming.

The philosophy of the weight loss Wellness Seminar is to recondition the subconscious with the use of hypnotic suggestions, positive images and standard behavior modification techniques. This program is best suited for the self-starter who is motivated and who can be disciplined in the use of the reinforcement tools. For more information call 1-800-848-2822.