What is Cognitive Hypnotherapy?

Evidence based Cognitive Hypnotherapy is a pioneering approach to therapy that is focused on your individual needs so that change is permanent. Here’s a video that explains things nicely…

 

The three main tenets of Cognitive Hypnotherapy are;

 

1. Trance is an Everyday Occurrence

Believe it or not, our unconscious is responsible for 90% of our behaviour. This means that whether we know it or not we are in and out of trance throughout our daily lives. This is because trance is not a special state that a therapist needs to induce. Rather it is the therapist’s role to effectively “de-hypnotise” you in order to guide you away from the problem.

Trance is when we lose ourselves in a good book or film; when we stare dreamily out of a train window; when we become so lost in our thoughts we forget our journey the moment we reach our destination.

Because of the everyday nature of trance, it is no surprise to learn that our problems are also a form of trance. Let’s call this “emotional hijacking”.

 2. All Behaviour Has a Positive Intent

It may not seem like it sometimes but all of our behaviour has a positive purpose. Either we are being driven toward growth and development, or we are being led towards living in protection and fear. Usually, it is protective behaviour that client’s come to see me about. This is when the unconscious is trying to protect you from perceived harm, often by encouraging you to behave in very irrational ways. These behaviours are a result of miscalculations the unconscious has made during a previous traumatic event.

For example; a man’s wife runs off with her lover. The man, angry and hurt, may protect himself from further pain by feeling that he must distrust all women. He now avoids future relationships. His unconscious has protected him from further pain and he feels safe (protection).

“Experience is not what happens to you. It is what you do with

what happens to you.” –  Aldous Huxley

What if the same man decides that he is unhappy living alone and he would love to meet a new partner. He could look back to his wife and think “all women will leave me.” Of course, we can see how obtuse he is being but his unconscious has taken control and he continues to live unhappy and alone. Even though his unconscious is trying to protect him, it is making him very miserable and depressed.

All problems are made from similar patterns. Our unconscious will emotionally hijack us to protect us, even when the results will hurt us more in the long run.

Understanding this allows us to break the problem pattern and help you to create new positive behaviours. Naturally occurring trance phenomena can be used to make suggestions directly to your unconscious mind and give you back control over the life you want to live.

 

3. In Cognitive Hypnotherapy, Everyone is Unique

Everyone experiences their problem differently. Everybody has come to their problem through their own unique experiences, and each of us will be affected in different ways by similar problems.

For example:

One person may be so socially anxious that they avoid all social occasions and never make any friends. The resulting loneliness convinces them that they are unlovable and this makes them even more anxious and reclusive.

Another socially anxious person may instead put up a front of being confident to hide their anxiety and use their bravado to bully others into being submissive towards them, thus controlling the situation. They may even gain respect from some people, but are they attracting the attention of people they actually want to befriend?

Two people with the same root problem but experiencing it (and behaving) in different ways.

For this reason, unlike most other therapies, we treat the individual person NOT the label.

We are being hijacked by our unconscious!

Think about a time you were really nervous about something, to the point where you were almost trembling with fear. It’s likely that looking back you realised that your reaction was “out of character” or you “don’t know what came over me!”

Is that cigarette really going to help you relax?

Was that surprise spider under the dishcloth really going to harm you?

Why does the idea of speaking up at a meeting cause a panic attack?

Often in these heightened emotional states, we behave against our rational wishes and can often feel silly afterwards. We know we are behaving irrationally but feel that we have no control.

What Makes Cognitive Hypnotherapy So Effective?

By adopting techniques from CBT, Gestalt Therapy,Transnational Analysis, EFT and positive psychology, Cognitive Hypnotherapy enables me to offer an individually tailored approach to the behaviours and beliefs which may be holding you back from living the life you would like by finding the resources within you to create lasting positive change and achieve your goals.

If you would like to find out more, or if you’d prefer a quick chat, please do contact me HERE or call for a FREE telephone consultation on 0208 798 0992.