What is Solution Focused Hypnotherapy?
Solution Focused Hypnotherapy (and Solution Focused Therapies more generally) is essentially about the therapist coaching the client to focus on the changes that are most important to them, on how they want to be.
These beneficial effects are often achieved more quickly because the focus is not on the problem, but rather on the goals that you wish to achieve, using your own strengths and resources. It also avoids dwelling on past events, because the evidence clearly shows that recalling past trauma causes the mind to be traumatised again, and this would normally make the situation worse.
The therapist is like a coach, and by working with a client who collaborates in working our their goals, we can determine the mental excercises that are most likely to be beneficial, and we can guide the client in carrying out these mental excercises. The most successful outcomes are with clients who are committed to carrying out these mental excercises, because as a coach, we cannot do the excercises ourselves – the client is the one who has to do the excercise.
I will also give you an overview of how our minds work, enabling an understanding of how we can sometimes feel out of control of certain areas of our lives.
What is hypnosis?
Hypnosis is the bringing together of the conscious and subconscious minds in what is known as a trance state, which is similar to REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep, which is when most of our dreaming happens.
Trance is actually a perfectly natural state that we often experience in our everyday lives, for instance when reading a book, watching television, or repeating everyday tasks, and it is easy to contrive, most often through relaxation techniques.
The hypnotherapist guides you into a relaxed trance state by, for example, the sound of their voice. It is perfectly safe as our minds will only accept suggestions that are appropriate for themselves.