For those having trouble with obsessive thoughts - ideas, images, or words that are constantly intruding upon one’s thought - hypnotherapy provides relief. Because these thoughts are unwanted and uncontrollable, ultimately, they impact a person's life, sapping enjoyment and replacing it with worry and anxiety.
The reason that hypnotherapy works is that it provides the key for persons to control the uncontrollable of their minds. It is not that behavior is permanently uncontrollable; it is just that part of the mind, the Middle Mind, is not controlled by thinking, logical, or conscious activity. When we are faced with such uncontrollable behaviors, we are dealing with issues within the Middle Mind, more frequently called the subconscious. This subconscious houses many functions that are essential to life. Here lie not only the operations of our bodily functions, but also the many positive instincts and habits essential for day-to-day life.
However, from time to time, behaviors can get programmed in the Middle Mind that we would love to change, but we do not know how. For some, it may be overeating, nail biting, or some other “unconscious” activity. For those suffering with obsessive thoughts, the Middle Mind is generating intrusive thoughts that interfere with daily life. The first benefit of hypnotherapy is the method for the person suffering with obsessive thoughts to access the cause of the issue in the Middle Mind. Once she has a strong understanding of her client, a trained hypnotherapist can help that client develop an individualized game plan to use in taking back control of his or her thoughts consciously. Then, utilizing hypnosis, which is the key to unlocking access to the Middle Mind, the hypnotherapist will lead the client to the place where the problem exists. Using their plan, the therapist provides the suggestions to the client’s Middle Mind, the raw materials necessary for changes to be made. Then, the client's own Middle Mind takes over and does its magic, reprogramming the troubling behavior.
With obsessive thoughts, the goal is to move control over this portion of the thought life from the subconscious into the thinking, conscious mind. Once this move is accomplished, the client can sort through the thoughts calmly and dispassionately, reassigning the disturbing thoughts to a category of lesser importance. Being able to objectively deal with the thoughts at the conscious level gives the client the ability to eliminate the uncontrolled intrusion of the thoughts in daily life. Gaining control over one's thought life offers people a new level of confidence and happiness.