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| Photo courtesy of Microsoft When you feel tempted to smoke that cigarette or to eat one more cookie, opt to take your dog for a walk instead. |
The
subconscious mind controls 88 percent of our beliefs and behavior. Therefore, the
mental script for an entrenched habit will trump the conscious mind’s logic,
will-power, decision-making and reasoning faculties that want to change this
habit every time. When I help a client to change a behavior in hypnotherapy, I utilize
a technique called “pattern interrupt.” The purpose of the pattern interrupt is
to give the SCM a time out while the individual engages in something completely
different for a little while. Through this exercise, the client experiences how
it feels to have the power and control to choose whether to engage in an
activity that has been controlling his or her life.
When I work with
someone to change a behavior, such as to quit smoking or lose weight, I first ask
what specifically triggers the undesired behavior, and how he or she handles
this kind of temptation. Next, we discuss options for dealing with the trigger
without engaging in the unwanted behavior. It is important that the person
comes up with these alternative behaviors in order for the client to remain
motivated and enthusiastic about working to achieve his or her goal. The
pattern interrupt should be simple and easy to do, whether it is taking ten
slow, deep breaths instead of lighting a cigarette; drinking a glass of water
instead of a can of soda; take the dog for a walk instead of playing a computer
game. I will also reinforce these options as hypnotic suggestions so the
subconscious mind will also start to recognize these new activities as “known”
behaviors.
Every time you
choose to do the replacement activity, even for just a couple of seconds, you
are reinforcing a new behavior and creating a new known in the SCM. The great
thing about the pattern interrupt is that anyone
can do this. You don’t need to be in hypnosis or to have received a
post-hypnotic suggestion to substitute an unwanted behavior. When temptation
strikes, you just need to do something else for a little while…just long enough
for the craving to subside and your subconscious mind to forget, for a little while, that this behavior ever existed, at all.
Sara R. Fogan, C.Ht. is a certified hypnotherapist based in
Southern California. She graduated with honors from the
Hypnosis Motivation Institute in 2005. For more information about
Calminsense Hypnotherapy® and to set up an appointment, please visit http://www.calminsensehypnotherapy.com/.
© 2014
