There are different types of hypnotherapy – but what does it mean to be a solution-focused hypnotherapist? I will never ask clients to discuss any traumas they have experienced. People can be surprised when I tell them this as they often think they need to explain why they feel anxious and overwhelmed. Anxiety is caused by negative thinking and so by revisiting past traumas, we’re adding them back into our stress buckets. As the brain cannot tell the difference between imagination and reality then thinking about and discussing traumas can feel like you’re reliving them repeatedly. In solution-focused hypnotherapy, we focus on how you want to feel and what you can do to get yourself to that point. By supporting clients to take positive action, solution-focused hypnotherapy is incredibly empowering. By helping clients empty their stress buckets, they’ll have the capacity to process the traumas in their past.
We often know on some level what we should be doing to empty our stress buckets and feel better. As a solution-focused hypnotherapist, I enable clients to access the logical part of their brain and decide what action they want to take. However, taking action can be incredibly difficult, particularly when you’re feeling low, anxious or overwhelmed. Making any change is hard as our primitive brain wants us to repeat whatever we did yesterday as it believes it kept us safe. If shutting out the world, staying in bed and watching TV all day kept us safe yesterday, then we’re encouraged to do it again. Logically we know that getting some fresh air, talking to people who make us smile and focusing on the positive things in our lives will make us happier. But when we’re anxious we’re not operating from this area of the brain.
The power of hypnotherapy comes from the use of hypnotic trance. When we’re in this deeply relaxed state the conscious and subconscious come into focus, enabling us to get the best out of ourselves. It gives us the opportunity for our mind to realise that taking positive action is a safe thing to do and therefore it becomes easier to make the changes in our life that we want to make.