There are so many different types of therapies out there, each designed to help people make changes in their lives. While many of them have similar goals, they might use slightly different approaches to help you achieve those goals.
To determine if solution focused hypnotherapy is suitable for you, it’s probably helpful to consider the characteristics of individuals who may not benefit from this approach. If you do not resonate with the following description, then it is highly likely that solution focused hypnotherapy will be beneficial for you.
You need answers to your past
There are lots of therapy and counseling methods that focus on digging into the past to help people understand why they’re feeling the way they do. Some people find this really helpful and eye-opening because it gives them a clearer picture of why they think and act the way they do every day.
You can think of solution focused hypnotherapy as the exact opposite of this. I have no interest in analysing your past. The past has gone. You can’t change your past but what you can definitely do is change the way you think, feel, and act in the future.
Solution focused hypnotherapy is very outcome focused. We will sometimes talk about your past, not to find answers, but to find out the strength and resources you used to help you during those times.
Just imagine what you could achieve if you used those strengths and resources to help you move forwards with your life!
You’re not very communicative
Solution focused hypnotherapy combines psychotherapy (talking therapy) with hypnosis. While I don’t need to find out about your past I do need you to tell me how you want your future to be. We will be communicating with each other for around 40 minutes each session. If you don’t find talking to people easy then it’s quite obvious that talking therapy may not be the right approach for you.
You have no imagination or no desire to use it
As solution focused hypnotherapy is outcome-focused many of the questions I will ask will require you to imagine or think about your future. You can be 100% sure I will ask you ‘What are your best hopes for us working together?’ I will then ask ‘What difference would it make to you when you achieve these best hopes?’ and ‘What would be the next thing you’d notice if you were moving towards these best hopes?’.
As you can see you have to be able to imagine what this future would look like. If you are the type of person who is likely to say ‘I don’t know’ repeatedly then solution focused hypnotherapy is not right for you.
You expect me to be able to wave a magic wand
‘Nothing changes if nothing changes’
Active participation is crucial in solution focused hypnotherapy. It’s not something done to you; it’s something done with you. It requires belief in the process. Every single one of my clients who has embraced this mindset and made the necessary simple changes has experienced remarkable transformations without any exceptions.
It’s really not hard to achieve magical results but it is harder than sitting on your sofa and expecting someone to change your life for you (we both know that’s never going to happen….right?)
You’re a Negative Nigel (or Nigella)
It’s probable that you currently consider yourself to have a negative mindset. As far as you’re concerned the glass is definitely half empty. That’s fine. It would be highly unusual for you to be looking for help if you view yourself, your capabilities and your life with great positivity. It’s your negative thinking that has caused your anxiety.
What you do need therefore is the willingness to change. A willingness to look out for the little positive things that are happening in your life on a daily basis. We’re not talking about lottery wins and promotions at work. We’re talking about noticing it’s a sunny day, someone’s made you a cup of tea or you had a nice chat with your neighbour.
If you’re determined to be a Negative Nigel and continue to view everything in your life negatively, then solution focused hypnotherapy is not for you.
You expect instant results
Your brain possesses an incredible capacity for change, constantly undergoing a process known as neuroplasticity. Anxiety is not something you were born with; rather, your brain has learned to be anxious based on the messages it has absorbed through your senses. Repetition of these messages has formed pathways in your brain, meaning that you spend a disproportionate amount of time thinking from the negative, obsessional, primitive part of your brain.
By changing the messages that you tell your brain you are able to build up new pathways in the more positive, intelligent parts of your brain. This however takes time. Usually this is achieved within 6 to 12 weeks.
So hopefully now you’ve discovered what type of person solution focused hypnotherapy is not suitable for.
If you’ve been reading through the article and thinking ‘That’s not me’ I’d love you to get in touch so together we can positively change your future.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Perhaps you might be interested in reading some other articles in my ‘Hypnotherapy and you’ series including:
A users guide to solution focused hypnotherapy
What happens during an initial consultation?
What happens during my first solution focused hypnotherapy session?