How to have an excellent hypnosis session

Conscious

The conscious is the part of your mind where you are as you read this. It is the logical, rational and analytical part of the mind. You use your conscious mind when you look at the call display on your phone before deciding whether to answer the call.

Subconscious

This part of your mind is like a massive database of experience. Everything you have ever experienced is stored here – the good, the bad and the ugly. And the way these experiences are stored is what causes your habits, beliefs, behaviours and feelings.

For example, if you saw your parent have an adverse reaction to a spider as a child, you may have grown up afraid of spiders. You may have a weight issue because the adults in your life may have given you cookies, candy or ice cream when you were hurt or sad when you were a child.

The subconscious mind is not logical, rational or analytical. It reacts to what is going on based on the memories in that database. This part of the mind believes everything is true and very protective of you. It’s the reason why you cry at sad movies. When you relax and watch a movie or a tv show, you have gone into a trance and are watching with the subconscious part of the mind, not the conscious part.

Have you ever gotten up after watching a couple of hours of tv and went into the kitchen looking for a snack even if you weren’t hungry? You probably watched at least half an hour of commercials for fast and snack foods, and the suggestions in those commercials made you feel that a snack could be a good idea.

Critical Factor

I like to compare the critical factor to a receptionist or gatekeeper. This part of the mind is the bridge between the conscious and subconscious parts of the mind.

Here’s how it works using the weight loss example I mentioned a few paragraphs back.

Someone decides to lose weight. This decision is a conscious decision which goes to the critical factor. The critical factor checks in with the subconscious mind to see if it will accept the suggestion. The subconscious reviews its programming and decides that food helps the person feel better when sad, hurt or upset and rejects the idea – and the change does not happen.

Hypnosis bypasses the critical factor so that it does not allow the subconscious mind to say no, as long as the change is something the client wants to make and will not be bad for them. Your mind will not allow anything in that can hurt you.

Superconscious

The next part of the mind is your higher mind or superconscious mind.

Your superconscious mind is the part of your mind that knows everything about you – past, present and future. It is extremely powerful and works for your highest good, just like the other parts of your mind. The SCM mediates between the conscious and subconscious parts of the mind.

Having an Excellent Hypnosis Session

So now that we know how the parts of the mind work together let’s talk about how you can have an excellent hypnosis session and achieve your desired outcome.

Hypnosis is self-hypnosis

All hypnosis is self-hypnosis. I can’t make you do anything. We start your session with an “induction” where I speak to you and give you instructions, and if you follow those instructions, you can take yourself into a hypnotic trance. I can’t make you do this, but I can help you do it for yourself. Hypnosis is all about your choice. You choose to go into hypnosis, and you decide to make the change.

There’s no right and no wrong

Don’t worry about how deep you go. You will go into the level of trance that is right for you. Also, don’t worry about getting anything right or wrong. All you have to do is relax and let whatever happens happen.

I will ask your conscious mind to rest in a comfortable place where you feel comfortable and enjoy being. This place is different for everyone. Some people enjoy the beach, outdoors in nature, their garden, or their cottage. Some clients have even gone back in time to their grandparents’ home, where they were happy as a child.

I ask your conscious mind to do this because your conscious mind may have biases, and your ego may want to answer a question one way when the true answer is the opposite. So if you can allow your conscious mind to get out of the way and be open to the possibility of tremendous change, you can have a great outcome.

Yes, you will hear external sounds

Because you are not unconscious or asleep in hypnosis, you may find your conscious mind busy and chatty. It may be asking internally, “why am I hearing traffic” or “what is Julia saying?” or “why did I respond yes? Shouldn’t it be no?” etc. Just let that chatter move through, and don’t focus on it. Allow your higher mind to do the work for you. And remember, because you hear traffic and people in other rooms doesn’t mean that you are not in hypnosis. It’s like daydreaming or getting involved in a movie or television show. You may be a million miles away, but you may hear stuff around you. Hypnosis is a state of concentrated attention.

Your Superconscious Mind does the work

Because this process is holistic and works on many levels, you may hear me using words like colours or zenith, universe, blueprint, etc. Don’t worry about what these words mean; your superconscious mind understands and knows what to do with them.

We will set up fingers on one of your hands for your yes and no responses early in the session. These finger signals will be how your superconscious mind answers the questions I ask, either yes or no. I occasionally ask your conscious mind questions, and when I do, I will refer to you by name. I will refer to the superconscious as Superconscious Mind.

One size does not fit all

There are rare occasions when clients cannot let their conscious mind relax in that comfortable place; it does not mean that they’ve done anything wrong; it just means that this may not be the right method for them.

The process I have described is called the Simpson Protocol and is my first choice for working with clients. But it doesn’t mean that it is the only choice. There are many hypnosis processes. So I ask all clients to let me know early in the session if they find that their conscious mind can’t relax in that comfortable place and is consciously answering questions. I would prefer you let me know early, so we can go with another option instead of waiting until the end of the session to tell me about it. That way, you will not have wasted our time and your money.

In Conclusion

We’re a team helping you achieve the change you desire and deserve and will work together to help you get your results, in other words, hypnosis is something that I do with you, not to you.

And remember, hypnosis is an entirely natural state you go into many times a day.

For example, when you:

• daydream,
• get lost in a book, movie or television show,
• are driving on the highway and realize that you don’t remember the last 10 minutes of the trip – this is called “highway hypnosis”, and
• when you can’t find something that is right in front of you – this is called a “negative hallucination” – you’ve told yourself something’s not there so often that you did not see it

you’ve been in a state of hypnosis.

I hope this has given you some insight and information you need to feel comfortable with hypnosis. Please let me know if you have other questions, and I will help you with the answers. I also have a Frequently Asked Questions page that you may find helpful.