Dr. Sera Lavelle, Dr. Karolina Pekala, Dr. Rebecca Hoffenberg, and Dr. Meghan Downey are Clinical Psychologists who specialize in using hypnosis and therapy based in clinical research to help people overcome their battles with food. They specialize in treating children and adults who struggle with a variety of issues related to eating, ranging from emotional eating and difficult relationships with food, to more severe struggles such as anorexia, binge eating disorder and bulimia.
The goal is not just to help clients change their behaviors, but also to stop viewing food in terms of good and bad in order to end the cycle of overindulging and self-blame. The difference in our approach is that we fully understand the psychological reasons that people struggle with eating. Our therapists hold doctorates in Clinical Psychology and have specialized training in eating disorders and other issues with food. We use advanced hypnosis techniques to help clients crave balance and get more in touch with their bodies, while also using CBT, mindfulness, EMDR and analytic therapy techniques to help resolve internal conflicts and find peace with food.
For this January 2009 article in ELLE Magazine, the journalist enlists the help of NY Health Hypnosis & Integrative Therapy to help her feel positive about her eating.
This in-depth review in the January 2010 issue of Allure Magazine focuses on our therapists’ work with changing her eating patterns.
NY Times interviews our therapists as experts in the field on eating habits and hypnotizability in real life versus popular media portrayal in December 2016.
In this January 2020 article in Prevention, NYHH therapists explain the research on hypnosis combined with therapy can help people develop a better relationship with food.
Most people struggle with food not because they don’t know what to eat, but because they alternate between being too restrictive and then overindulging in a way that leaves them feeling bad both physically and emotionally. For some, this overindulgence is self-punishment; for others, it’s a failed attempt at self-soothing. Either way, they are left feeling less happy because they overindulged, which often perpetuates the cycle.
Struggling with our relationships with food can be one of the most difficult challenges a person can face today. It is not the weight or the food itself; instead, the problem often lies with the constant psychological battle between feeling like they need to starve themselves to look good, and overindulging when they’re feeling overwhelmed. Restoring balance with food and weight can have greater impact than anything else in life because food is a vital part of everyday living and because overcoming this struggle frees up emotional space. Once clients take control of their eating, they start to regain control over their lives in a variety of contexts. This change promotes a new confidence that they may have never experienced before.
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