Ying / Yang
When people come for hypnotherapy two treatment approaches are available depending on the issue.
Some people arrive in a negative state – they have a problem that is holding them back in life or a behaviour that they want to change (eg. alcoholism, nail biting, bereavement). Other people arrive in a positive state – they are already content but want to improve an aspect of their life to enhance it further (eg. sports performance, career development, confidence building).
For those who arrive in a negative state the psychodynamic approach coupled with behavioural therapy (incorporating CBT) tackles problem behaviours and issues that are holding people back. The good news is that you don’t have to go digging into the past and relive unpleasant events to bring about such a change – in most cases working in the present with the person as they are today is perfectly fine.
It is truly only our own self restricting beliefs (including the negative beliefs of others that we have internalised) that prevent change; so you would think it should be relatively easy to change wouldn’t you? But unfortunately a negative belief can be repeatedly reinforced over many years and experiences that we have with others can validate and further strengthen it. Eventually a negative belief can become ‘hard wired’ to such a degree that we perceive it to be an unchangeable fact – a personal trait.
But working at the deeper level of consciousness brought about by hypnosis enables these negative beliefs to be tackled. I can honestly say this having witnessed the incredible changes in people during hypnotherapy treatment. The shift is visible both physically and in their attitude.
For those people that start hypnotherapy already in a positive state – those who are seeking personal improvement - the sky’s the limit! I adopt a positive psychology perspective here using hypnosis along with NLP techniques focused on setting goals, coaching and achievement. Even though the person has arrived in a positive state, this is still about challenging limiting beliefs – ideally leading to a meaningful life. Martin Seligman (on TED here) developed the concept of positive psychology and he defines the meaningful life as: “using your signature strengths and virtues in the service of something much larger than you are.”
It’s a case of:
- identifying your strengths and playing to them;
- building and maintaining quality relationships and connections;
- doing/giving for others without expecting anything back in return;
- creating flow and going with it.
Undoubtedly this is a great framework that we can use consciously. The conscious mind likes structure, so positive psychology is ideal for it. But what about the unconscious mind?
The unconscious mind cannot tell the difference between a real or imagined event.
So it follows that under hypnosis your imagined experiences are accepted by the unconscious mind as being real events. Your hypnotic experience therefore shapes your future.
How big and colourful do you want to make it?
It’s up to you...
