‘Place your faith in your subconscious… and give your conscious mind a rest…’

When people ask me my occupation, I get a range of mixed reactions, the most common being light mockery. People look at me and say something like, ‘ooh I’d better not spend too much time with you, you’ll access my thoughts,’ or, ‘can you make my friend cluck like a chicken?’ It’s no surprise that the vast majority aren’t fully informed in hypnotherapy - a lot of media attention focuses around tv shows where hypnosis is used as a form of entertainment. So is it any wonder that there is a lot of scepticism surrounding it?

 

‘Your subconscious specialises in finding solutions to your most personal problems…’

When I did my training in 2004, we were taught three definitions of hypnosis:

 

• All hypnosis is self-hypnosis

 

You allow yourself to enter the trance, the hypnotherapist is the navigator. You can emerge at any time should you wish to do so. Hypnosis will be a success if you have a desire for, and belief in, the treatment.

 

 

• Hypnosis is an altered state of consciousness

 

You will enter into a state of relaxation where such things that usually go unnoticed will suddenly become more prominent than usual. For example, sounds and feelings may be more pronounced, as all the thoughts of the conscious mind are set aside, allowing your unconscious mind to come forward.

 

And my favourite:

 

• Hypnosis involves bypassing the critical factor of the mind and the establishment of acceptable thinking (US Federal Definition)

 

This is probably the most accurate definition of hypnosis. Your ‘critical factor’ was formed once your very first thought was formed. Assuming we are all born with a clean slate, our first memory will be imprinted in our minds and used to set up our belief systems; likewise with subsequent memories. By the age of three, our personalities have been set. By age four, our self-image has been formed. The conscious mind cannot take in every single piece of information we encounter, so the Reticular Activating System in the brain filters out all that the subconscious is not prepared to accept; If one with low self-esteem is told she is beautiful, the statement will not be accepted as it does not fit in with her own belief systems. Hypnosis is used to get past this critical factor and into the subconscious. In bypassing the critical factor, better belief systems can be set. The more a suggestion is made, the stronger it will become - this is known as compounding.

 

‘Employ your subconscious…’

I believe that if we were all taught at a young age the basics of looking after our minds, we’d all be far better off mentally and emotionally. During my training, I often found myself marvelling at the simplicity of some of the approaches and would think, ‘if only everybody knew this?’ We’d be able to use our minds to calm ourselves, deal with problems, and stop them from growing into issues more serious. Problems layer and cover up other, older existing problems. With hypnotherapy, we get to the very bottom of the problem and pull it out. Just like weeds - if you cut the top off, they are still there… but if you pull them out from the roots, they are gone forever. We want faster results using pleasant relaxation techniques that clients can use again and again, making hypnotherapy a tool for life.

 

Throughout my blogs I will be referencing many books that I find brilliant companions in the healing of the mind, body and soul. I’ll also refer to Neuro Linguistic Programming, and our full training in Emotional Freedom Technique, an amazing therapy that has truly astounding results. I’ll be talking about the power of thought, feeling, and faith, and aim to highlight just what a miraculous thing the human mind actually is. Just start with this pleasant exercise:

Have calm thoughts

Picture calm scenes

Recall calm sounds

And guess how you’ll be feeling….?

 

‘Your answers lie inside of you…’