by Debi Livingston BCH, CI -- Director of Education, Maine Chapter of NGH

Both actually. When people call me asking if hypnosis will help their issue, they are usually
thinking in terms of getting fixed quick; they want the presenting problem to go away as fast as
it can. Initially, they may not be interested in investing lots of time or money into getting help
because they’ve already been down that road with other therapies.
     What I explain to people is this: Hypnosis is a great modality to end unhealthy, unwanted
habits and a wonderful tool for behavior modification. A client walks in as a smoker and leaves
a non-smoker. The client with fears or phobias ends the session able to get on the plane, drive
over a bridge, or hike in the woods where there might be a snake or spider. In this aspect,
hypnosis is a quick fix and for many, the only fix they will need.
     However, one of the questions I ask my potential new client is how long they have been
indulging in the habit they no longer want, or living with the fear that has kept them locked
down? If we looked at the presenting problem as an egg, this would be the outer shell. Inside
that shell is the source of life to their problems: Low self-esteem, lack of confidence, being an
abuse or rape victim, fear, or guilt. The habit is how they have been coping with the real issue.
The habit has been the band-aide to get them through the day. This is when hypnosis should be
used as a longer process.
     Your subconscious mind is the storehouse of memory for all your life experiences, both good
and bad. At some point in time, usually when you were young, something happened to you that
went into your subconscious mind and became the initial imprint for the problem you are
dealing with today. Why are you self-conscious? What is the cause for such low self-esteem?
What was the start of the anger issues? Only by going into your subconscious mind, via
hypnosis, can the initial imprint be targeted and released.
     So I tell the new client, hypnosis is a process. You can leave my office after one visit feeling
great and ready to tackle the immediate challenge at hand, but realize you didn’t just wake up
one day with low self-esteem, anger issues, or poverty consciousness. This way of thinking,
feeling, and behaving took time to become the foundation for who you believe yourself to be.
And if you really want to create positive, permanent change in your life, I suggest you commit
to a hypnosis program. And although a program will involve four or more sessions, it won’t be
a "this-will-never-end-cycle" of constantly going over the same situations in your mind again
and again, as in classical talk therapy.
     You’ll be able to release the source of the problems and all other contributing factors and then
replenish your subconscious mind with the new thoughts, feelings and actions of how you want
to be living your life. You’ll learn how to retrain your brain and change your perspective on
how you choose to respond to the world around you.
     Potential new clients get pretty excited when they learn they can take back control over their
life and become the person they’ve always yearned to be in just a few months and not years
invested in therapy. And of course, they always have a choice. That’s what freedom is all about.
So which is it for you, a quick fix or longer process? Find a hypnotist in your area. Create the
life you want!
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