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What is Hypnotherapy

Simply put, hypnotherapy is a technique used to change behaviour by accessing the subconscious (sometimes called the unconscious mind).

Have you ever been driving somewhere you go to a lot such as work and arrived thinking you don’t remember the journey and yet you arrived safely? This is because of our wonderful subconscious mind.

stylised picture of a brain's neural pathways

As we go through life, it acts a bit like a video recorder, recording events, and more importantly, our responses to them so that if we find ourselves in the same situation again, our brain knows what to do, often automatically. This is how we learn to walk as our subconscious remembers which muscles to move and how to put one foot in front of the other.

Whilst things like being able to walk and being able to drive on ‘auto-pilot’ are useful, sometimes our subconscious records things that are not helpful to us and we don’t always want to respond in the same way for the rest of our lives, this is where Hypnotherapy can help. With the use of deep relaxation and Hypnotherapy techniques we can access the unconscious mind and change the recording.

An Example

Imagine for a moment that you are addicted to chocolate, sweets and cakes, so badly that you HAVE to have it every single day. Those of us who love such things might think this is great but what if you can’t afford all this sweet stuff, or as a result of eating it all you are gaining weight?

Firstly let’s look at how such behaviour might have begun. As children we are often rewarded with sweets and cake so our subconscious learns that these are good things to have and that they make us feel good. If then as an adult, we become stressed or anxious, the subconscious says “I know how to make you feel better”, and you start craving sweets and cakes. In this way a habit of using such foods as comfort is established and promoted by your own mind as it tries to ensure your happiness.


The Critical Conscious Faculty

We might consciously know that such behaviour is not good for us and want to change it, but it’s hard to do and there’s a reason for that. As our subconscious mind has stored in it some really valuable information our brain protects it with a layer between the conscious and subconscious brain known as the Critical Conscious Faculty. Think of it like a sentry standing guard over the contents of your subconscious. This sentry will not allow any changes to our subconscious if they feel threatening, which of course making changes are. So how can we bypass the Critical Conscious Faculty?

Diagram showing Critical Conscious Faculty

Hypnotherapy

Hypnosis is a powerful tool that we use to induce a state of deep relaxation, and it’s this state of relaxation that allows us to bypass the Critical Conscious Faculty, allowing the subconscious to be accessible. By using the power of suggestion to encourage positive change. In this state, you can turn your attention completely inward to find and use the natural resources deep within yourself that can help you make changes or regain control in certain areas of your life

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