News Articles » – HOSPITAL HOSTS SEMINARS

WARREN WEEKLY September 21, 2005 (reprinted)

HOSPITAL HOSTS SEMINARS ON WEIGHT LOSS, SMOKING CESSATION

St. JOHN MACOMB HOSPITAL TO HOST SESSION WEIGHT LOSS OCT. 25

By Brian C. Louwers

Losing weight, quitting smoking – it’s all a state of mind for those who truly want it, Rena Greenberg said.

Greenberg, founder and director of Wellness Seminars, Inc. will bring her next session to St. John Macomb Hospital in October, where she’ll assist participants who wish to shed unwanted pounds. The company has worked with at least 100,000 people on weight loss and smoking cessation at more than 75 hospitals across the country.

The key to a successful outcome, according to Greenberg, is opening the mind through hypnosis and replacing bad associations with better, more-healthy ones.

“Smoking, Overeating. I totally know what it’s like to have your life revolve around these addictions.” Greenberg said. “Fortunately, I got sick very young and I had to turn my life around, to change these automatic actions and beliefs. We have to access the deeper part of ourselves where that strength lies.”

Greenberg said the first 45 minutes of each two-hour seminar is free. If participants elect to stay, they must pay a one-time fee of $69.

After that, they can attend the rest of the session, and they’re able to return for additional sessions at no cost.

She said everyone who attends a smoking cessation or weight loss workshop participates in-group hypnosis, an essential part of undoing unhealthy psychological patterns.

“What we’re doing with the hypnosis is changing the lifestyle, changing perceptions over the long haul,” Greenberg said. “We look forward to it. We want to eat healthy food. We’re turning ourselves off to the foods that are harmful.

“With smoking cessation, we’re turning ourselves off to cigarettes. Psychologically there’s still a pleasurable association with the cigarette. These perceptions are still hidden in the subconscious,” Greenberg said. “We have to access them and replace them with the positive image of ourselves as a non-smoker.”

Greenberg said the program works for those who really want to change unhealthy patterns of overeating and smoking. She said hypnosis is a powerful way to achieve those results without drugs and with or without other diets or treatments.

Shirley Lupo, 55, of Shelby Township , said she lost 30 pounds after she attended the seminar in October 2003.

“I went in there with a positive attitude, thinking I am going to do this,” Lupo said. “This is a way to help yourself. I lost the weight. I never went on any blood pressure medications. I have to say that’s what I went there for and that’s what I did.”

Carol Henderson, 44, of Warren , has lost 50 pounds since she attended the seminar last February. She attended again this summer, and said the seminars were worth the investment to her.

“I need to lose more, but I’m happy,” Henderson said. “It helps me to eat better, to be in control of what I eat. When you start losing the weight, you exercise more and you can do more. It helps the body and the mind.”

Greenberg said participants could save $10 by registering in advance. For more information, visit easywillpower.com.