The outcome of any hypnotherapy session is controlled by the brain of the client. When people say: "I'm in two minds about that!" it is because they feel like there's a battle going on in their mind: part of them wants to change, part of them doesn't. This is a conflict between the conscious mind and the Subconscious.
Now, the only reason this happens is because the conscious mind is better informed, it knows something that the Subconscious doesn't. For example, too much alcohol can damage your liver, or tobacco smoking can cause cancers. The frog phobia is irrational, it is holding you back. The cocaine habit is costing a fortune, your wife is threatening to go back to her Mum's with the kids. You don't want that, for sure, but that doesn't seem to stop you craving cocaine...
There are reasons for all this, and although everyone seems to think it's your fault, it is actually just the way the human brain works. And it can be easily fixed with hypnotherapy, usually in only a single session, provided the client is okay with that: i.e., quite happy for it to work!
Some behaviours are controlled by the conscious mind, some by the Subconscious. If you keep making conscious decisions to stop - resolving to quit, making promises that you won't do it again and meaning well - but the behaviour keeps happening, then that behaviour and all the feelings associated with it are controlled by the Subconscious mind, which knows nothing about your new conscious decisions or promises. So it goes and does it again!
Does it start to make sense now?
Hypnotherapy is the only way to get detailed information across to the Subconscious part of the brain. My job is to explain to the Subconscious what we want, and why it's a good idea - facts that the conscious mind already knows, of course! - and then I ask nicely for the Subconscious to shut down the cravings and the habit at once.
What surprises everyone is that during the trance part of the session you are not asleep and you don't feel 'hypnotised', you feel normal. I explain all this during the first part of the session. It seems like nothing is happening and you will notice that almost everything I'm telling the Subconscious is already known to the conscious mind, so it sounds like you're just being told things you know already! Don't let this throw you - hypnotherapy is like an update for the Subconscious mind, to bring it up to speed with what the conscious mind has already figured out for itself.
There's one thing you can do that helps. The Subconscious is the emotional part of the mind, and in the trance part of the session it picks up on your mood, and tends to assume that this must be how you feel about what I'm suggesting at the time. We're looking for a green light for positive change, so the best mood for excellent outcomes is one of cheerful approval: more than happy for that to change, happy to be rid of the problem.
It may also help to know that the conscious mind does not expect it to work, especially if you're new to hypnotherapy. That's normal, and as long as we get the mood right, doesn't stop it working. So the ideal attitude is: Forward looking, quite happy for the problem to go away, quite happy to be amazed! Your Subconscious does the rest, you get your success and I usually get all the credit! Which is great.
Need to get rid of a problem? Call Chris now on 0161 474 8120 (Office Hours), or call/text any day, any time on 07748 838 644.
Chris Holmes is Director of Central Hypnotherapy Stockport, South Manchester and has been taking all the credit for the excellent responses of his clients' Subconscious minds for almost twenty years now, and isn't about to stop anytime soon!
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