As a professional hypnotist, I've spent a lot of time pondering this question.
Many of my clients come to me wanting to change something in their lives.
But here's the catch - they often don't actually want to make the changes themselves.
They just want their problems to disappear.
Sound familiar?
Most of us try the usual solutions first.
We read articles, Google our problems, chat with friends, pick up a book, or listen to podcasts.
We know, at least on a conscious level, what we should do.
But in the heat of the moment, we just don't feel like doing it.
This is where hypnosis comes in.
Hypnosis is a natural and normal state of focused attention.
Often, we struggle because of anxiety, nervousness, or worry.
This triggers our sympathetic nervous system, leaving us feeling stressed and anxious.
We develop coping strategies, sometimes as a means of survival from a young age.
These strategies might help us initially, like using alcohol to cope with trauma, but eventually, we need to let them go and heal.
I'm using the word trauma here in a general sense. My clients use this term all the time. It's not intended to apply judgment to anyone's situation, and it's not designed to imply a medical use of the term either.
To be clear, if clients are talking about trauma in any sense that does require medical or mental health support, refer them out.
We love working alongside other folks in the healing communities to get our clients results.
Healing involves redirecting the energy and information stored inside us from these traumatic experiences.
Trauma is an Overflow Issue - you can think of trauma like a flood - inside our system, and some believe it gets 'frozen' within us.
It's too much information to process all at once as it floods our system, and it's left it aside, unprocessed.
Imagine your house flooding. Everything on the floor, everything at ground level, gets wet.
That's quite a metaphor for how trauma affects us.
With hypnosis though, we can resolve any perceived interior damage.
For our brain, when something triggers a memory of the trauma, our brain thinks it's happening all over again because it was never fully processed.
In hypnosis, we create a calm, safe space for our clients.
They can revisit these emotions from a safe distance when then allows the brain to process it as it normally would.
Put that memory into auto-biographical memory so we know it happened YESTERDAY, or last year.
Then, the mind inherently knows - NO that is not happening now! It's like going back in time and redirecting the floodwaters, minimizing the damage.
We also address other emotions like anger, resentment, shame, and exhaustion.
Hypnosis allows us to view these from a new perspective, without fear, just observing what the mind is doing without judgment or fear.
It's beautiful to help people fall in love with themselves, and that's what's happening when we help our clients notice, and adhere to the light in them.
The key to this work is slowing down the moment enough for the client to notice the truth, leading to an 'Aha' moment.
We're looking for the synesthesia - where the breakdown happened. Where the mis-perception took place, or the validation was missed.
It's a loving and gracious process.
And the best way to do this? Through PLAY.
There's no exception to the Play Rule (which is a bit of a joke, since there are no rules in play!).
Play is at the heart of my work. When we feel safe and are having fun, we learn, grow, and get things done.
My mission is all about playing in the mind, allowing it to heal naturally through playful activities.
Remember, awareness is always the first step. Stay open and harmonized, and let the transformation begin!
Get started now by Downloading the Alpha Sequence, or my best selling book on becoming a professional hypnotherapist, Can You Be a Hypnotist?