Back in the mid 1970s to early 1980s hypnosis was viewed as a major cure for many of society's ills. If you had a problem with being overweight, smoking cigarettes, drinking too much, or being a juvenile delinquent, many professional hypnotists would, for a hefty fee, offer their services to hypnotize your problems away.

The church I pastored in Texas at the time contained among its members some overweight women with a passion for improving their bodies. These women had apparently tried everything they could to lose weight: diets, exercise, weeks at fashionable fat farms, and the like. None of the "cures" seemed to last. They'd go off the diets, quit exercising, abandon the principles learned at the fat farm, and balloon up to their old weight. Finally, one of my friends discovered a hypnot…