How hypnotherapy can help you overcome unwanted habit patterns
Changing unwanted habits using hypnosis
Hypnosis is a very effective tool to change wanted habits. You may consciously want to change a longstanding habit but feel stuck in a pattern of behaviour unable to make the changes you want. You may even feel that you have no choice but to continue to do what you know on some level is not in your best interest. Unhelpful habits can sometimes seem to have a mind of their own and as a result, these behaviours are repeated automatically, often with little conscious awareness.
This happens because habitual patterns of behaviour are controlled by the subconscious part of our minds, they are learnt behaviours or ‘programs’ that run automatically when triggered by certain situations or emotions. Though we may want to change the pattern at a conscious level, the subconscious will continue to run the program as it has no awareness that change is necessary.
How are habits or patterns set up?
We all build habits to make our daily lives easier and more manageable. These habits are in effect responses or learnt patterns of behaviour. If we take the example of driving a car, when we are learning to drive, we think about everything we do, when to change gears or indicate, how to use the rear vision mirror and the controls.
This is a conscious mind activity – we are aware of what we are doing, we are learning a new habit or skill. The more we drive the more the more it becomes a subconscious mind activity. In other words, we make a habit of driving and this becomes a learned behaviour and after a short time we can drive without thinking about it, the subconscious mind simply ‘runs’ the driving program. In effect we have constructed a new habit which will make our lives easier.
Helpful habits v unhelpful habits
Obviously, learning to drive constructs a good and useful habit and we all have many of these programmed into our subconscious mind which we trigger when we need to. Unfortunately the subconscious mind does not differentiate between good and bad habits or patterns of behaviour.
The subconscious learns unhelpful behaviours or habits as easily as it does helpful ones, yet it does so with the best possible motivation as even bad habits are often coping mechanisms that we develop over time.
For example, many people who develop the unhelpful habit of biting their nails do so at a young age to help them overcome anxiety or nervousness. So what started as a strategy to reduce anxiety develops into an unhelpful habit which they carry over into later life even though they may well have overcome anxiety.
How hypnosis helps break bad or unhelpful habits
Because habits are a subconscious behaviour and stem from the subconscious mind, they need to be changed at a subconscious level and this is where hypnosis helps. In a trance state the subconscious mind is very open to useful suggestion and can often be encouraged or retrained to find more creative and less harmful ways of achieving what the habit achieves for you. In this way habits are changed without any stress or anxiety.
Contact us, we’re friendly and approachable
If you need to change unwanted habit patterns we can help you achieve your goals. To make an appointment and see how we can help, call New Farm Hypnotherapy Clinic on 07 3254 1373, complete the form below or email hello@brisbanehypnosisclinic.com.au.
Did you know?
A 2009 study by Phillippa Lally, a health psychology researcher at UCL, entitled ‘How long does it take to form a habit’, found that on average it takes 66 days for a habit to become ingrained.
https://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/2009/aug/how-long-does-it-take-form-habit
Get in touch
If you have questions or would like more information about how we can help you change unwanted habits, give us a call on 07 3254 1373, email hello@brisbanehypnosisclinic.com.au or simply fill in the form below.