This story has been updated to reflect timing changes.

A former Ann Arbor resident is gaining national attention for her unique weight loss approach and will be highlighted in an episode of ABC’s Nightline next week.

Hypnotherapist Rena Greenberg said her hypnotherapy process subconsciously alters eating habits and “shrinks” the stomach of her patients - gastric bypass surgery using the power of the mind.

Rena Greenberg

Courtesy photo

“What I do is simulate the surgery through four hypnotherapy sessions,” Greenberg said. “People say they just can’t eat as much as before. That’s the amazing power of the mind. They feel like they did the surgery.”

Nightline members contacted her in January to do a segment about her gastric bypass hypnotherapy techniques, which airs Thursday, after the local news, at 11:35 p.m.

Gastric bypass surgery is performed in a variety of ways to make a person’s stomach physically smaller, usually by sectioning off the stomach with bands or staples.

Greenberg uses a series of suggestions while the patient is in a relaxed, hypnotic state to make the patient’s subconscious believe the stomach has been reduced in size, leading to less eating and weight loss.

“It's really exciting because people respond beautifully,” she said. “The subconscious mind has the ability to accept the suggestions that their stomach is smaller. It help prevents people from using bariatric surgery.”

She first used the process in 2010 and more than two dozen people have been helped, said Greenberg, who now lives in Florida. She said the process is adapted from European hypnotherapy techniques.

Greenberg hosts hypnotherapy weight-loss seminars in hospitals across the country. She said more than 100,000 people have attended her sessions at 75 hospitals in the past two decades. She said her relaxation and hypnosis techniques allow the patient’s subconscious to be more open to suggestions she makes, such as choosing healthy food, working out more and stopping over-eating.

"The suggestions I give them are things like portion control, that they prefer healthy food, and eat only when physically hungry. It's really natural," Greenberg said about her process. "We rewrite the programming in the subconscious level to be less attracted to unhealthy food and behaviors."

For readers interested in Greenberg’s hypnotherapy sessions, she will be coming to St. Joseph Mercy Hospital in Ann Arbor on March 24 from 1 to 3 p.m. The first 45 minutes is free and for $79.99 attendees can participate in a hypnosis session.

For more information about the St. Joseph Mercy Hospital session and the gastric bypass hypnosis surgery, visit her website.