Martin Shirran

Martin Shirran (born 21 April 1952, in Kensal Green, London) is a British psychotherapist and author, best known for development of Gastric Mind Band (GMB) therapy for weight loss.
Education and career
Shirran attended Bennett's End School in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, followed by Great Yarmouth College of Further Education, where he undertook a City and Guilds course in Radio, Television and Electromechanics.
He first entered the workforce as an electrical engineer, but soon moved into sales and marketing, where a training about psychology in sales fascinated him. Shirran became an avid reader on the subject. After a close friend visited a hypnotherapist in order to quit smoking, he was intrigued and the following week he undertook the treatment himself. While it was not successful, hypnotherapy became a lifetime interest.
Shirran and his wife Marion moved to Southern Spain in 2001. In 2004 Shirran completed a diploma course in hypnotherapy with the Robert Shields College; he was subsequently admitted to the register of both the British Institute of Hypnotherapy and the American Board of Hypnotherapy. also in 2004. After a client Martin helped quit smoking asked him whether it would be possible to convince him he had a gastric band fitted, focusing on the empirically validated Cognitive Behavioral Therapy as the core approach whilst also employing other therapies that reinforced each other. "An intense four-day program...culminates in the gastric-band hypnosis session. 'We create smells in the room and have background noises, because the more senses that are involved in the whole process, the stronger the suggestion is,'" Marion Shirran told ABC News in an interview. "It's got to come from the person themselves.'" Patients undergoing GMB report they visualize their stomach to be approximately the size of a golf ball, dramatically curbing their appetite, causing them to eat less and shed excess weight over time. Once patients hit their target weight they undergo more therapy to have their virtual gastric band "removed," and will be given a maintenance programme that will allow them to eat without regaining the weight. the Shirrans believed that an additional intervention was required to deliver the permanent results the clients desired. They developed a new approach again based on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy; dubbed Pause Button Therapy (PBT), it seeks to empower people, "allowing them to press pause, freeze time and consider the consequences of the actions they are about to take before making a more informed choice." The technique can be learned and employed from reading materials; psychotherapy is not the only way one can learn it. PBT was developed for weight loss, but was later trialled in UK schools to help children overcome behavior problems. Later Pause Button Therapy was incorporated into another treatment protocol called TactileCBT, developed with assistance from clinical psychologist Sarah Clarke. TactileCBT was an outgrowth of PBT developed to address a wider range of maladaptive behaviors and thinking patterns not addressed by PBT. At their clinic the Shirrans continue to employ TactileCBT in the treatment of depression, anxiety and general addictions.
Shirran became a member of the International Hypnosis Research Institute in 2010 and was registered with the UK's Complementary Natural Healthcare Council when it was officially established the following year. In 2011 Shirran signed an International two-book publishing contract with Hay House; Pause Button Therapy was published in November 2012
In 2015 Martin Shirran, Marion Shirran, and Fiona Graham co-authored and self-published the self-help weight loss book Cruise Yourself Slim.
In addition to undertaking the training of interested therapists in their approach, the Shirrans continue to treat a small number of private clients each month at their clinic in Spain.
Works
* Shirrans’ Solution: The Gastric Mind Band - ISBN 978 1 4520 5251 9 - AuthorHouse, 2010
* Pause Button Therapy - ISBN 9781781800485 - Hay House, 2012
* Gastric Mind Band - ISBN 978 1 78180 053 9 - Hay House, 2013
* Cruise Yourself Slim - Shirran, 2016
Personal life
Following his love of flying and sailing Shirran gained his Private Pilots licence at Sywell School of Flying Northampton in 1988. He completed the training for his RYA Yacht Masters licence in 1997.
Shirran married his wife Marion on March 8, 2001 in Gibraltar; they now live in Mijas Costa in Southern Spain.

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