All therapy, whether it uses hypnosis or psychotherapy to support clients, needs us to be prepared and engaged in the whole process of healing and learning. This means both the accredited hypnotherapist and the client – ie you and I.
Preparation does not need to be a major event, or a drama or even work. Preparing for your hypnotherapy session involves making sure you:
- Leave enough time before your session starts, so you arrive either at the door or online room, calm, collected and ready to think of yourself for the next hour,
- Consciously “park” your day’s pressures, worries and irritations which have nothing to do with you, outside your therapy hour. This way you can focus on yourself without mental distractions.
- Come to the session open to new and different thoughts about your current worrying situation,
- Come to your first session willing to share your story in response to the questions you are asked – rather than as a story you have to tell in your way, in your time. The therapist will hear the whole story; however, they want to focus on and listen for HOW you share your story, rather than only the details you have in your story,
- Arrive being open to the idea you may benefit from learning something new – and /or unlearning something you might already know,
- Always do your exercises or activities between sessions – they are given for a reason – and that is to help you be aware of what you are learning, how you learn it and what happens when you try new skills or insights. If the purpose of the activity is unclear, remember to ask as it will make the activity more meaningful.
- Reflect on your experience – thinking about what happened when you behaved in a particular way, interacted with others, and made certain decisions is one of the best skills to learn so as to maintain robust mental wellness.
- Write down your reflections and new learning or ideas, so they can become a new insight. Writing is better than typing when learning something new, but typing is better than just trying to remember it :).
- Be patient with yourself– you might accept that change and development takes time, effort and equally importantly self-care.
How do we know these steps or actions work?
Because our clients tell us they get better, faster and have longer lasting results from their hypnotherapy sessions when they implement as many of these actions as possible. They do say they do not do all of them all the time and every time!! That is O.K!
But they also say that if they think about being prepared, and ready and open for their time which they have CHOSEN to set aside for their own benefit, then they get the results.
Sounds like a win by my book