Healthcare
When Skokie resident Michael Hoffenberg paid his first visit to Positive Changes Chicago in 2007, he weighed more than 260 pounds. Fad diets had disappointed him, his weight issues were getting worse and Hoffenberg was ready for a major life overhaul. He investigated Positive Changes, a nationwide chain of hypnotherapy centers with a branch serving Skokie since 2005, which offered help with weight loss, self-control issues and personal confidence through hypnosis and coaching. Half a year after his first visit to Positive Changes, Hoffenberg went from a size 42 to a 36-inch waist, and thanks the Positive Changes program for his success.
Hoffenberg’s story isn’t new, and neither is the interest in hypnosis for personal benefit. As early as the 1700s, hypnosis has been studied and used for healing and behavior modification.
Hypnotherapy has changed a great deal since those days. The co-founders of Positive Changes Chicago, Karen Hand and Catherine Johns, say modern methods require a combination of suggestion, coaching and most importantly, the clients’ participation in their own treatment.
Positive Changes offers Skokie residents a personalized system rather than a generic “all comers” approach. There are programs for weight loss, confidence-building, reducing performance anxiety, and even ways to get ahead in business. “We have a lot of success working with people on business-related issues,” says Johns. “Presentation, sales calls, feeling nervous about these things…we do hypnosis to address the anxiety and (combined with) coaching—it’s a very powerful package.”
Personal coaching reinforces the hypnotherapy sessions, helping the client develop personal strategies to cope with bad habits, temptation and stress. “I was working with a woman recently in television,” says Johns. “She has to go to meetings to present to clients and it was very stressful for her. We did several coaching sessions on how to be comfortable in front of a client and did hypnosis to reinforce the learning and teach her how to relax.”
Johns and Hand are quick to point out that results depend on the personal investment a person puts in his or her own program. Hand says every individual program is unique. “It depends on what you’re working on. With weight, if somebody has five pounds they want to lose, it may be a simple matter. If someone has 50 or 60 pounds to lose, they have a lot of issues wrapped up in food and weight. You have to get both the subconscious and conscious mind working together toward the same goal.”
Johns and Hand say Skokie residents have benefited from Positive Changes Chicago, but these programs aren’t for everyone. They don’t claim to have the answer for mental illness or medical issues requiring a doctor’s attention. Positive Changes is for people motivated to make life changes that need experienced help. “The best example is anything that is aggravated by stress can be made better by hypnosis. Do we turn people away? Yes we do,” says Johns. “We don’t take everyone who walks through the door. If they aren’t motivated to change, we say, ‘Thank you very much but you are not a good fit for this program.’”
Positive Changes offers a free consultation appointment for potential new clients. It’s a way newcomers can evaluate the center, while Johns and Hand help determine the right kind of program for the client. It’s wrong to expect drastic early results from any type of self-improvement system, but people like Michael Hoffenberg do notice one immediate benefit: the good feelings associated with taking an active role in making important life changes.
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