Our imagination, permanent memory, emotion, habits and self-preservation impulses are held in the subconscious mind. In fact, the number of activities our subconscious mind carries out is astounding!
Without realising it, we rely upon our subconscious mind to master the complex skills we need to cope with everyday life. Walking, talking, driving a car or suddenly remembering something important, these all depend upon subconscious activities.
Our conscious mind, on the other hand, is responsible for the rational and analytical thinking, willpower and temporary memory. Majority of the information our brain receives is filtered, deleted and generalised based on individual criteria, these are the rules, values, beliefs about how things should be in our schema, the model of our world, so that any 7+- 2 pieces of information is held at any time in our conscious mind.
The relationship between the subconscious and conscious mind could be described as a relationship between a captain of a ship and the crew. The captain (conscious mind) develops plans and maps (schemas) that describe the way that the world should look, and uses these charts to tell the crew (subconscious) where to go to.
The captain also decides what skills the crew must learn in order to operate the ship. This arrangement works reasonably well as long as the plans and maps are accurate, the crew has learned right skills and a close co-operation is maintained between the captain and the crew. It also works as long as the crew does not upset the captain by pointing out the things that the captain does not want to see, such as a new harbour or an island that are not on his map.
However, as the ship cruses along the river of life, the many harbours, islands and icebergs are noted by the crew whether they are on the captain’s map or not. The navigational errors or even disasters occur if the captain constantly refuses to use the crew’s skills or accept the new information in order to change charts to meet the reality.
In the simplest terms, the goal orientated coaching and hypnotherapy work in that it helps the captain to utilise the skills and knowledge held by the crew so that the plans and maps can be updated. This enables for the ship to stay on course so it will get to the desired destination or enables a new and more appropriate destination to be established.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Can I be hypnotised?
Anyone can be hypnotised if they want to be. There are, however, conditions that are unsuitable for hypnosis such as schizophrenia, epilepsy and psychosis.
If you are suffering from an illness, you should still visit your GP and continue to take any prescribed medication.
Can the Hypnotherapist control my mind?
No. You cannot be made to do anything that you would consider morally or legally wrong and any suggestions that violate your values and beliefs are rejected. Hypnotherapist will work in co-operation with you so that the beneficial agreed goals of the therapy are achieved.
What if something was to happen to the Hypnotherapist, would I be able to come out of trance?
Yes. If anything unlikely was to happen to the hypnotherapist, you would either after a while emerge spontaneously out of the trance or simply fall asleep waking up naturally. Trance is after all a very natural and comfortable state!
What is Self-hypnosis?
The hypnotherapist may teach you a simple process which allows you to go into a light hypnotic trance on your own. This is useful for instance in learning to relax and managing stress and for learning and maintaining skills you have learned until they become new habits.