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Hypnotherapy & Self Esteem
01 Oct 2007
As a Hypnotherapist , I deal with a wide range of psychological issues ranging from weight conditions to phobias and lack of confidence to performance issues. One of the common themes that is encountered in many clients is lack of self-esteem. Often this is well-disguised and only comes to light when the full details of the presenting issue are discussed.
There is an expression that is used which states that’ what the thinker thinks, the prover proves’. In other words, if a person believes that he(she) is not good enough at something, he will look for and find all of the evidence that confirms his belief and often overlook any contradictions to that belief that may be staring him in the face.
All of the reasons for this lack of self esteem exist at subconscious level; often relating to the client’s perception of how she was treated as a youngster, by peers and family. Treatment, using hypnotherapy, involves getting the client to identify and revisit the initial problems which started the beliefs and then to change those perceptions.
For example, a typical, but imaginary client, let us call Claire, might have felt unwanted, because of the way she was treated by her parents, when she was a child. They never had enough time for her and spent more time with a particular sister( who had special needs). Claire still carries that emotional hurt to this day and through the eyes of the child. When Claire is asked to view the situation through the eyes of her parents and also a third party, she might typically come up with something like: father was away trying to earn enough to support the family; mother had a full-time job and had to also bring up several children, one of whom needed special caring. Claire can now see that this was not about her being unloved, but about the circumstances the family were in at the time. This acts as a cathartic release to break this particular aspect of low self esteem.
Bullying is a classic cause of identity problems later in life and often contributes to some of the more serious conditions that I treat, such as bulimia and anorexia. A youngster who is bullied because of her weight, may become obsessed with losing weight and gain an unrealistic ( by normal standards) belief that she is overweight.
These are simply a couple of simplified examples and I would guess that most people have their own skeletons in the cupboard; many of which affect their quality of life, in one way, or another. Hypnotherapy can provide the tools to help resolve how you feel about yourself and help to provide you with confidence in both your work and personal life. Often, having dealt with the self-esteem issues, the presenting problem goes away, without further treatment.
Chris Jones
