How Hypnotherapy and Counselling Work Together
There is no doubt that modern living is stressful. Meeting the demands of everyday life is difficult enough but we find it hard to switch off at the end of the day when our minds are bombarded with wider issues such as Covid, the cost of living crisis, the Russian/Ukraine conflict and so on and so on….
Past and present stress
Combine this everyday stress with unresolved issues we may carry from the past as well as worries about what the future holds and it’s easy to see how anxiety and depression are becoming a pandemic in themselves.
How our minds work for and against us!
It is believed that approximately 95% of our thoughts, feelings and behaviours are ruled by our subconscious mind which lies beneath our conscious awareness. This part of our mind holds our past experiences and we can use the analogy of a bucket of water when thinking about how the past and present combine to affect us. Our individual pail for example, may already be half-full of unprocessed trauma and negative programming from the past. It’s not too difficult to imagine therefore that the drip, drip, drip effect of current and imagined future worries can quickly lead to our bucket spilling over, leading to symptoms of anxiety and depression which are (ironically) a further cause of stress – after all – no-one wants to feel bad.
Bad to good
As human beings, we have a natural aversion to distressing feelings but we tend to reach for “quick fix” solutions which if done to excess – cause further stress in the long-term and more of the very feelings we are trying to avoid – it’s very easy to see how our minds can get into a pickle! Luckily there is a healthier solution and this comes in the form of hypnotherapy and counselling; working in tandem with both the subconscious and conscious content of our minds to uncover the why’s and wherefore’s of the past and providing us with a tool kit of healthy coping resources to deal with what is “showing up” in the present.
Not “woo woo”
Forget stage hypnosis! Hypnosis is something we do naturally when our attention “drifts” and clinical hypnosis uses more “focused” techniques where guided imagery induces deep relaxation to bypass the conscious mind and get into the “nuts and bolts” of the matter. Safe and specific suggestions allow the past to release its hold on the present and for positive ideas to take hold. In turn; counselling complements hypnotherapy by consciously exploring, talking through and “reframing” the past as well as providing you with a toolbox of healthy, coping resources to deal with daily stress more effectively.
Sign of the times
We all have our limits and there is no shame – only a sign of strength in asking for help and this is where hypnotherapy and counselling combine make a natural yet formidable team to help empower you to return to a state of productive calm.