In the past week I have had two more clients who have been diagnosed with cancer and have come to me for hypnotherapy to facilitate their recovery. I was doing so research on cancer and hypnotherapy I cam across an interesting article by Dr. John McDougall of the McDougall Wellness Center.

In this article Dr. McDougall writes: Worldwide, polyps in the colon are found commonly in populations with a high incidence of colon cancer. Both are believed to share the same cause–the diet. Common sense would suggest that the contents of the colon–the remnants of foods a person has eaten–would be highest on the suspect list. Colon cancer is found most frequently in wealthy countries, where people eat rich foods consisting predominately of meats, poultry, fish, dairy products, vegetable oils, white bread and other refined grains, and highly processed foods. On the other hand, people following diets providing plentiful amounts of whole grains, vegetables, and fruits and with very little in the way of meats and dairy products, develop few cases of colon cancer. When people move from a country of low incidence to a country of high incidence their risk of developing colon cancer increases as they adopt the richer kinds of foods. This correlation shows the importance of environment, rather than of genetics, in the epidemiology of colon cancer.

One of the honors in my career was being asked by Dr. McDougall to come to Santa Rosa to the McDougall Wellness Center to talk about hypnosis during one of his McDougall Weekends. The participants of that weekend were so kind and enthusiastic about learning the tools of self-hypnosis so that they can lead healthier lives and reduce their risk of cancer by changing the way that they eat. Not only is hypnotherapy effective in changing eating preferences, study after study shows the healing effect of hypnosis when used pre and/or post operative in the recovery from cancer. If you have been diagnosed with cancer, I urge you to add hypnosis to your healing regime.