Last week I talked about changing limiting beliefs. And by the way, I am now have a certification in this work. This week I want to discuss an approach that can be used for changing limiting beliefs, as well as changing behaviours. This is done by talking directly to the subconscious mind.
There are several techniques that can be used to achieve this – direct suggestion is the most obvious, where the client is in a state of hypnosis, ready to receive the helpful suggestions that I give. But today I’d like to discuss two other approaches using the 6 Step Reframe and The Swan. Both of these approaches require your subconscious mind to engage your body in answering the questions that I pose.
When your body does the answering for you, I can be certain that your subconscious mind is the one I’m speaking with, rather than your ‘gatekeeper’ conscious mind. Change takes place in the subconscious mind so it is extremely important to ensure that your subconscious mind is on board, so to speak.
The Swan – Talking to your Subconscious Mind
The Swan is a technique developed by hypnotherapist, Bob Burns. It does not require you to be in a hypnotic state. In fact you could be out at a cafe having a juice and the process would work. The Swan relies upon the subconscious mind to engage the use of your hand, to move in certain ways, when answering questions. This movement indicates ‘yes’ and ‘no’ answers. During this ‘discussion’, the therapist can ask your subconscious mind if it is now ready to change behaviours, for example, and then will assist the subconscious to process that change. The format of this technique allows the therapist to track the progress of change very quickly.
Example: a traumatic event may have sparked an allergy within a client. This Bob Burns’ video outlines a man with a cat allergy that started when he was five, due to a cat scratch leading to cat scratch fever. Since then the man’s body became reactive to cats. By engaging the subconscious mind to very simply process the change, by communicating to it that the man is no longer 5 years old and that he can now let that association go, the man dropped his allergic reaction. The video seems suspiciously easy, but the man is also a hypnotherapist and is well practiced with The Swan. It works with about 80% of clients, according to Bob.
6 Step Reframe
The 6 Step Reframe is another technique that I have found works with around 95% of clients. So I tend to use this one a lot. In this process, you are in a relaxed frame of mind, but not so deep that you cannot engage. Clients have often commented to me during the process that “This is really weird”. I love hearing that. It is no more weird than dreaming is. In both cases, your subconscious mind is taking control. The difference of course is that dreaming is not guided in a helpful way, whereas hypnosis is.
With 6 Step Reframe, I will ask your subconscious mind to give you a sensation in the body as a yes signal. It can be anything, and does not focus on the hand. Clients have experienced flashes of light behind closed eyes, a warmth in the chest, a relaxation at the top of the head, a restlessness in the feet, tingling in the legs. It could literally be anything. I am always fascinated as to how their subconscious minds are communicating.
Again with this one, I go through a series of questions to confirm cooperation from the subconscious first, and then to process out the unwanted behaviiour or belief. Sometimes the answers are not straight forward however. I’ve had clients whose subconscious minds would insist of a time delay before making the change, for example.
These are fascinating processes that allow change to happen much more rapidly than with direct suggestion alone. Have you got some limiting beliefs or behaviours you would like to change? Horizons Clinical Hypnotherapy Noosa.