Hello. It’s a lovely sunny day here in Sheffield today, probably the last warm one for the year as the equinox today signals the approach of winter and the days are already much shorter.
Thank you to all my wonderful friends and family for sharing my posts. I have already had some more enquiries which is great.
Hypnotherapy has had bad press over the years and some people think it is to do with magic and controlling someone else’s mind. It is neither of these things. Although I sometimes marvel at the results when someone is no longer afraid of something (fears and phobias respond very well to hypnotherapy), or has been able to stop doing something that they didn’t want to do any more (nail biting, hair or skin pulling), there is no magic involved.
Habits include smoking, over-eating, under-eating, and OCD behaviours. Hypnotherapy can also help with relaxation, stress management, anxiety, performance concerns (e.g. public speaking, imposter syndrome), and healing from trauma (from childhood, significant events or past lives). Hypnotherapy has also proved successful for some people with pain management (e.g. tinnitus, vertigo and some stress-related conditions such as migraines and irritable bowel syndrome).
The subconscious mind is where our survival instincts are lodged. Our subconscious mind will help us to react to any real or perceived danger and will always try to act in our best interests. This means that your conscious mind has at some point told your subconscious mind that the fear, phobia or habit you have is in some way critical to your survival. The subconscious mind will continue to act in that way to protect you even after the threat has gone. Any subsequent triggers for that original threat may result in the fear, phobia or habit manifesting itself even long after it is needed for your survival.
In hypnotherapy, I will take you on a guided meditation to help you relax into a daydream-like state. This helps the conscious mind to relax enough for me to access your subconscious mind. You are always in full control of everything and can choose to “wake up” at any point. Your subconscious mind then provides the conscious mind with a relaxing and happy memory (often from childhood but not necessarily) while I use the words supplied by you in the consultation session to address your subconscious mind with the changes you have requested to be made.
The subconscious mind will not remember any suggestions that it does not think the person needs for protection or safety.
You might have seen or experienced stage hypnosis. Although the process is the same, there are other factors at play here. It is not about magic or control either. Usually the people on stage are volunteers and willing to go along with the spectacle. Although they may not say so, they can choose not to go along and can “wake up” at any time. They may respond to a suggestion (e.g. quack like a duck, sing a song) given to them while they are under hypnosis, but this is because their subconscious mind has deemed it safe.
So, hypnotherapy and hypnosis are as simple and complex as that and there is no actual magic involved, just the magic feeling of freedom that you are not being controlled by your fear, phobia, pain, or habit.
If you want a chat about how I can help you, or anything I have said here, book in for a free consultation session on the Contact Me section. I look forward to hearing from you.
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