I would like to comment on the power of suggestion and belief as a hypnotherapist/hypnoanalyst.

The power of hypnosis/ trance/ relaxation, whatever you want to call it, is the power of belief. Let me share with you Dr. Barber’s explanation of the power of hypnosis: “We found that hypnotic subjects are able to do surprising things only when convinced that the hypnotist’s words are true statements … When the hypnotist has guided the subject to the point where he is convinced that the hypnotist’s words are true statements, the subject then behaves differently because he thinks and believes differently.”

As trance is an everyday experience, I wonder how many suggestions you give yourself every hour of everyday? These suggestions may come subliminally from the media in the form of advertisements or it could be an idea that has been accepted by yourself, from teachers, from parents, from friends or any other source. If you are firmly convinced that the idea is true, it has the same power over you as the hypnotherapist’s words have over the hypnotised subject.

Our well-being, health and happiness is strongly influenced by our internal dialogue with ourselves. What we tell ourselves has the greatest impact on our emotional state and behaviour. Research carried out in the States found that the poor grades in school are in almost every case due to some degree to the student’s negative beliefs and low self esteem. For example, if a child is continuously told he won’t amount to much and that suggestion is repeated every so often from adults he respects or holds a position of authority in his young eyes and said with a lot of feelings, then this negative statement will take root in his subconscious mind and externalise itself in his behaviour.

Theoretically, positive feelings and a healthy self-image and well-being can be ‘installed’ too. Remember this hypnotic programming gains permanence by coming from an authoritative source, through repetition and through intensity of emotions. Now when someone you respect compliments you, would you carelessly brush it aside as if it was of no consequence or would you take it out and savour it daily, remembering too all the emotions associated with that compliment?

What will you be telling yourself from now on as you get in touch with the power of your own mind? As Napoleon Hill once said, “What the mind can conceive and believe, it can always achieve.”