There are a variety of methods in both psychotherapy and hypnotherapy, and each has its own benefits and drawbacks. The method I was taught and developed in my clinic is specifically designed to cater to each individual client and not rely on a one-size-fits-all approach, which brings me to my first point of utilisation.
At ACT Complete Therapy, each client that walks through the door has their own personal internal processing system, values, beliefs, and experiences that have created their current view or map of the world. I work with each client to discover their current understanding of the world, but more importantly, to understand where they want to go and what their goals are. By understanding how clients currently process or program certain thoughts or behaviors, we can identify where the client holds their strengths, which can be utilised for positive change. For instance, if a client excels at writing, we can explore how they gather the resources needed to become proficient. These resources, once understood, can be replicated in many other areas of life that may need improvement. My method is also entirely goal-focused and moves away from the need to get the client to rehash past events, which leads me to my next point: getting out of the story.
Many clients come into therapy having told their story many times to other people and often to other therapists. From my experience, they are simply tired of retelling the same past over and over again. This is not to discredit a client’s history, because, as mentioned previously, it all plays a part in how we process thoughts and behaviors in the present. The problem is that re-telling the past has no real benefit in reaching a solution to whatever problem the client is facing. It may feel good to get a story or incident off your chest, but it does not change the pattern of how you are running a problem. The ultimate goal is to understand the pattern and replace it with one that serves the client. Other types of psychology or therapies spend too much time rehashing client stories, which can be counterproductive, keeping the client locked in the problem space and leaving people feeling stuck over time.
Along with getting out of the story, one of the key reasons I chose this mode of therapy is that it is fast and efficient. I always ask clients at the start of a session to rate their problem on a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being no problem and 10 being the worst they can feel about the problem. This helps clients comprehend how much better they feel and how much progress they've made in such a short period of time. Sessions can range from just one session to six, rarely going beyond five sessions before clients start noticing major changes, depending on the issue and the individual. Often, during the first session, clients will start to notice some shifts. I ask a range of strategic questions to identify where the client has the skills to overcome a problem and, importantly, where they lack the necessary skills. Where skills are lacking, I will provide the client with the steps, knowledge, and mechanisms to tackle the problem.
After the client has been given some tools and mechanisms to address their problem, we move into the hypnotherapy portion of the session. Once in a state of hypnosis, the individual is more able to bypass their conscious mind and access their subconscious mind, where many of their habits, beliefs, and patterns of behavior are stored. I will then use suggestions and other techniques to help the individual make positive changes in their thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. The themes and learnings discussed during the psychotherapy portion of the session are reinforced during hypnosis, which allows the client to 'lock in' the learnings of the session. In its own right psychotherapy and hypnotherapy are powerful modalities however when used in combination by a trained therapist positive results are significantly greater.
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