Hypnotherapy
What it is and what to expect from a session with Tracy Forsythe
"When I dare to be powerful….it becomes less and less important whether I am afraid.”
~ Audre Lorde
If you’ve never tried hypnotherapy before, it can be difficult to know what to expect. You may have seen old movies where a hypnotist ordered their subject to focus on a swinging watch and to go to “sleep”, whereby they were commanded to change their ways!
Modern day hypnotherapy, thankfully, has moved on. It is a very collaborative process and you remain in control throughout. It does not always require you to go into a trance: much hypnosis can be done quite conversationally. Having said that, guiding you into a gentle trance can help you relax and allow your conscious mind to quieten. Many people liken trance to a kind of daydream. You remain awake but you will likely feel very relaxed. For those who go into a deep trance, you may feel as if you are drifting off; you’re aware of what’s going on but you allow yourself to let go, almost as if you are hovering between being awake and asleep. Some people report that they didn’t feel like they went into a trance at all, and yet they noticed significant changes almost immediately after their session.
We allow the conscious mind to relax so that we can ask the unconscious (or subconscious) mind, where habits and patterns of behaviour are formed, to get on board with bringing about the changes that we want to make. Unwanted habits and patterns of behaviour, however uncomfortable, are actually serving a purpose. They may not be doing so in a logical way, but they are trying to keep us safe.
The beauty of hypnotherapy is that we don’t need to delve endlessly into the past to unlock the reasons why we have certain habits, behaviours or sensations, we can simply work with the unconscious mind to find new ways of being.
Through gentle relaxation, guided visualisation, breath work and the power of suggestion, true and lasting change is within your grasp. Every session is unique to you and you remain in control throughout. And because I largely work online, you don’t even need to leave home.
For some examples of how I work, go to my free audio page. Please only listen to these audio recordings when you are able to fully relax and are not engaged in any activity which requires your full attention such as operating machinery or driving. Under 18s should seek parent/guardian permission first.
What do we mean by the unconscious or subconscious mind?
We often use the iceberg analogy to describe what we mean by the conscious and unconscious or subconscious mind. The tip of the iceberg, the part we see above the water, represents the conscious mind. It is logical and analytical. If you receive information, such as what you are reading now, you can make a conscious decision to agree or disagree with me or to find out more.
The part of the iceberg that we cannot see, below the waterline, represents the much larger unconscious mind. It takes care of everything else - breathing, heart beating, circulation, digestion and so on. It is also where habits and patterns of behaviour are formed. It is not logical, it is purposeful. Its one main purpose is our survival.
What to expect from a Hypnotherapy session
Before your first appointment, you’ll be sent some welcome instructions, a payment link and a form to fill out and send back.
In your first session, we’ll start by having a chat about what you’d like to achieve, what you might have tried before and go from there.
We’ll explore some gentle relaxation exercises and I’ll teach you some techniques you can use on your own.
I’ll take you through a short visualisation, much like a guided meditation, so that you can deeply relax into what we call trance - this simply means a state of deeply relaxed focus. You’ll be in charge and you will be able to communicate with me at any time. By being more relaxed, the logical and analytical part of the brain can rest and we can talk to the unconscious mind, where habits are formed and where changes happen. It’s a very collaborative process.
Let’s say for example that you’d like to work on your confidence. You know you are a capable person and yet something is holding you back. It doesn’t seem logical that you should feel anxious or unworthy but for some reason you do. We don’t need to know what those reasons are, we simply acknowledge that those feelings are serving a purpose for you. Usually it is fear; a need to feel safe can mean keeping ourselves small and never reaching our true potential. Fear is logical: for our survival, we need to be afraid of certain things like wild animals or the edge of a cliff. But we don’t need to have that level of fear when it comes to speaking up in a meeting, giving a speech or doing a presentation.
There are lots of different ways to do approach this and you don’t need to work at a conscious level - you can stay relaxed and simply be guided by my voice. Once you are relaxed and with your permission, I’ll ask the unconscious part of your mind, the part that is keeping you stuck, to find new patterns of behaviour. And in the case of confidence, we will look to find new ways of meeting those needs of feeling safe and protected without the need to keep you small. We can elicit feelings of confidence by considering other situations where you do feel confident: it can be something as simple as flipping a switch and being confident the light will come on. We can then build on that feeling and harness it to use in situations where you would like to be more confident.
I’ll be monitoring you the whole time, so if you are unsure about anything or you’d like a different approach, you’ll be able to say so.
At the end of the session, I will bring you back out of trance, feeling refreshed and alert but remaining relaxed.
If you’d like to know more, have a look at my F.A.Q.s and please do book a free 15 minute discovery call where we can chat about whatever challenges you may be facing and the changes you would like to make.