(This blog was originally posted on February
1, 2016)
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| Photo by Rick Hustead |
"People are constantly changing
and growing. Do not cling to a limited, disconnected, negative image of a
person in the past." – Brian Weiss
When I saw that quote on a Twitter
feed, I knew I had found my blog topic for the day. In addition to holding onto
an outdated image of others, we often carry around the baggage of similarly
disconnected and negative images of ourselves. The longer you held that
perception, the more time your subconscious mind was bombarded with chatter to
reinforce that negative opinion of yourself. Ironically, you may be the only
person who continues to see yourself in that old light; but other people’s
perceptions alone are not powerful enough to not persuade the subconscious mind
to change a long-held belief about personal worth. No matter how much work you
have put into changing or getting rid of an unwanted habit or belief, it can seem
really tough to completely evict the negative perception about yourself that
went along with that old behavior.
But tough is not impossible, and hypnotherapy is a very effective way to
dismantle the subconscious mental scripts that no longer reflect the person you
are and want to be.
A lot of these negative belief systems about perceived futility of
change come from and are reinforced by low self-esteem and low self-confidence.
If the person believes that he or she has or can never make a positive life
change, lack of experience in actualizing a previous change in behavior only
reinforces this negative belief system. Through hypnosis and therapeutic guided
imagery, I help my clients imagine how it feels to be able to completely and
effectively make the new, desired behavior changes. Since the subconscious mind
does not know the difference between what is reality or pretend, it is ideal to
practice and reinforce these new behaviors while in hypnosis, where a new positive
mental script can be written.
Hypnotherapy and therapeutic guided-imagery techniques are also
effective tools to further dismantle the former negative beliefs and replacing
them with powerful new mental scripts to reinforce the client’s self-power, confidence
and willingness to embrace the desired behavior change. Every time you
“practice” the new desired behavior, confidence in your ability to make the
desired change continues to grow and the realization that self-directed change
is possible further increases self-esteem. Over time, repeated reinforcement of
the new subconscious mental script—“I can do X, I am worthy,
etc.”—replaces the negativity and self-doubt until you also believe that your power to change and the
changes you have made are here to stay.
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/.
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