27/06/2025
What is Hypnotherapy?
Imagine your mind has two parts:
Your Conscious Mind:
This is the part you use every day for thinking, making decisions, analysing things, and using your willpower. It's like the captain of a ship, giving commands.
Your Subconscious Mind:
This is much deeper. It's where your habits, feelings, memories, instincts, and beliefs are stored. It's like the powerful engine room of the ship, quietly running everything in the background.
Hypnotherapy is a gentle way to talk directly to your subconscious mind. It's not magic, and you're always in control.
How it Works:
The "Trance" State
When you have hypnotherapy, your therapist will guide you into a state of deep relaxation. This is often called a "trance." But don't worry, it's not like being asleep or losing control!
Think of it like:
Daydreaming:
When you're lost in thought, driving on a familiar road without really thinking about it, or completely absorbed in a good book or movie. You're aware of what's happening around you, but your focus is internal.called a "trance." But don't worry, it's not like being asleep or losing control!
Think of it like:
Daydreaming:
When you're lost in thought, driving on a familiar road without really thinking about it, or completely absorbed in a good book or movie. You're aware of what's happening around you, but your focus is internal.
Deep Relaxation:
Similar to how you feel just before you fall asleep, or when you're super relaxed on a comfy sofa.
In this relaxed state, your conscious mind (the "captain") steps aside a bit. This makes your subconscious mind (the "engine room") more open to new ideas and suggestions that are helpful for you.
Why it Works: Changing Old
Programs
Many of our problems, like anxiety, phobias, or bad habits, are often "programmed" into our subconscious mind over time. For example:
Anxiety:
Your subconscious might have learned to react with fear to certain situations, even if consciously you know there's no real danger.
Habits: You might consciously want to stop biting your nails, but your subconscious keeps triggering the action.
Hypnotherapy helps by:
Finding the Root:
Sometimes it helps you understand why your subconscious developed certain patterns.
Reprogramming: The therapist gives positive, helpful suggestions directly to your subconscious. These suggestions are designed to replace old, unhelpful "programs" with new, positive ones. For example, instead of "Be anxious in this situation," the new suggestion might be "Feel calm and confident in this situation."
Strengthening New Beliefs: By repeatedly giving these positive suggestions while you're in that relaxed state, your subconscious starts to accept them as new truths.
In Simple Terms:
Hypnotherapy helps you bypass the critical, logical part of your mind (the conscious mind) and directly communicate with the powerful, habitual part of your mind (the subconscious mind). This allows you to update old, unhelpful "programs" and replace them with new ones that support your goals and well-being. It's about changing your reactions and feelings at a deeper level, making positive changes feel more natural and effortless.