How Hypnosis Works: The Power of Suggestion

It is universally known that hypnotherapy works on the power of suggestion. What this really means is not often understood. It is necessary to understand how the mind works to fully appreciate what this means.

Remember the iceberg theory of the mind, which goes all the way back to Freud at the beginning of the twentieth century. He said that our mind is made up of the conscious, which consists of what we are aware of, and the subconscious, which consists of all we are not aware of but which is still in our mind, such as memories and experiences.

The subconscious mind makes up a large part of our mind. In fact, what we are aware of consciously takes up such a tiny part of our mind as to be practically negligible. The driving force behind what we do comes largely from the subconscious mind.

When we decide not to smoke anymore this appears to be a conscious decision, or at least we like to think so. However, the impulse may have come from the subconscious mind. If that impulse is strong enough, change can happen without much difficulty.

The subconscious mind does not work by reasoning things out. If it feels like doing something it sends a feeling which we become aware of. If that feeling is very strong, then we usually succeed. Feelings often work in a more powerful way than conscious thought.

This is why hypnosis, which works on the subconscious mind, is significantly more effective than willpower alone. Research shows that hypnosis can be up to six times more effective than willpower-based approaches.

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