For me it is about enabling and empowering people...
... and this, my way, and in my experience, is with all respect somewhat different from counselling and hypnotherapy, both of which I know in different ways.
My certification says 'clinical hypnotherapist'. This is a great profession and, what's more, a great way to help people with individual issues, such as, for example, trauma, phobias, smoking, and negative patterns - e.g. 'I'm not ... enough (fill in the blank); being unable to say 'no' to people and things; negative self-talk... you name it).
Hypnotherapy has an approx. success rate of 85%, given the fact that some people cannot be hypnotised, are unable to relax... 85% is great! At least some of the remaining 15% stems from clients who self-sabotage to such a degree that they, unconsciously, self-sabotage the process of the therapy and break the therapeutic alliance. I am writing this with compassion and understanding.
However, after the hypnotherapy session/s, clients leave without being able to replicate the techniques. Their issue has disappeared (or gone underground, depending on the client's level of self-sabotage) but most, actually about 85% of population have more than one issue...
... all sorts of stress, anxiety, depression, more than one childhood trauma, other traumas, depression, IBS, smoking, chocoholic, nightmares, fear of drowning.... the list is almost endless....
Did you know that most diseases (dis-ease! = the absence of 'ease') spring form the mind? Everything starts with a thought; unhealthy thoughts create unhealthy patterns create unhealthy behaviours create an unhealthy body. This is the mind-body experience.
It is called mind-body because our physical and emotional health are intrinsically linked. When you feel your stomach tighten due to anxiety, you have experience the mind-body connection.
I did years of counselling myself, for myself... Do you know what happens when you retell your story? It gets reinforced. Your story, your perspective, your truth - they are all valid! However, perspective is subjective, everyone's own truth is limited by their level of consciousness, and stories change, since they belong to the realm of memory, with our mind filling in the gaps and changing things so as to protect us.
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The Lighthouse Metaphor
And this is where I come in: I play Lighthouse...
... and my clients play ship on the sea of your negative emotions.
Your consciously aware mind is the captain; your subconsciously aware mind (also called the subconscious or unconscious) is the crew, a very powerful crew.
I, the lighthouse, show you the path through the choppy sea of emotions. While you are with me you are in a safe harbour, learning and practicing what is needed to sail safely, securely and to be able to enjoy the journey. Then, you sail out, better equipped, sails and hull mended.
The best thing is that the sea calms down. Every time a bit more.
The more you learn and practice, the calmer the sea becomes and the less you will need the techniques you learn and practice with me. But you know them; they are yours to keep, use with your loved ones, pass them on...
Your self-awareness rises like the sails on your ship.
Your ability to practice mindfulness calms down the sea of your emotions.
The techniques - a whole toolkit - help you get rid of the sea monsters that whip up the sea's surface from below (your subconscious awareness).
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This is what I believe is the best way to help people who struggle with their emotions:
Give them a whole toolkit full of effective tools to get rid of emotional problems; show them how to achieve a massively increased self-awareness that helps enable people to Feel Fab Now and shrug off events (formerly seen as problems) like water off a duck's back; give them techniques to train their ability to achieve mindfulness and to make them feel physically better (the mind-body).
But! You have to do the legwork.
Nobody can do the work for you. It is all in your mind; hence, your mind does the work, following the beam of the lighthouse.
And! You need to trust the process and approach it with an attitude of positive expectation.
Why? Because there needs to be rapport. If the captain of your ship (your conscious self) does not look at and/or follow the beam the lighthouse throws your ship (you) will not find the way.
Makes sense?
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Afterword
I call my subconscious awareness my 'partner protector'. She is immensely powerful but not without drawbacks, since time, for example, does not exist for her. And, thus, sometimes, she still tries to protect me, like she did with the little neglected, abused boy who spent the first two years of his life in a week nursery, from Monday morning through to Friday night. And, then,...
... but this is not the place for my whole story. It is enough to say that I do not need her protection anymore; instead, our co-operation is in full swing - conscious and subconscious awareness are walking and working hand-in-hand. And, if I ever need her to protect me again she will be there, until I have sorted myself out. I have all I need in my toolbox.
A whole lotta love,
Florian, Uncle Floh, Weinhold
