How can hypnosis interrupt limiting self Beliefs?

What are Limiting Self Beliefs?

Have you ever made a statement like “I’m terrible at public speaking”, or “I’m a terrible writer”, or “I’ll never find a partner”, or “I’m just not good enough”? These are examples of limiting beliefs that put you in a corner of your own making and set boundaries around your capabilities that prevent you from doing things, or at least doing things with confidence and conviction.

Often, people have been living with this type of thinking their entire adult life, and so believe it to be true. They have been listening to a critical voice and responded to it often without question by putting on the breaks and not pursuing something that they would otherwise be perfectly capable of doing. Many people living with limiting beliefs have not paused to question whether the limiting beliefs are actually true and tested them against external reality. Instead, they allow the beliefs to circulate in their heads, almost taking comfort in their old story that they have always run, unaware of how negatively this approach is impacting their life. Listening to limiting beliefs could be keeping you from making good choices, taking new opportunities, or limiting your potential. They can result in deep feelings of frustration as you live with what you perceive to be a limitation that you have no control over, and you are held back from where you want to be.

Causes of limiting beliefs

So, what causes limiting beliefs? Limiting beliefs usually begin early in life and are shaped by our experiences as children, often when our brains are not developed enough to fully understand the context of a situation. Our subconscious responds to negative experiences by trying to prevent us from hurt and discomfort in the future. It does this by instilling a story or limiting belief so that next time you are in a similar situation, you approach the situation differently and in a way that is designed to keep you safe from discomfort. Sometimes these responses can help us, and will set us up well for the future, but often, these responses may have been relevant at the time that the first experience happened, but when we have matured and have a greater understanding of the complexities of life, the stories can actually set us up for constraining our happiness or potential.

Example of limiting beliefs

An example might be that you have a fight with some friends in primary school that leaves you feeling bad. You perceive the cause of the fight to be something, which may or may not be true, but your subconscious then responds to the circumstance and locks the experience into your brain, and then begins to develop a set of automatic responses to similar situations, that are designed to keep you safe from experiencing future hurt. The resulting automated response may be that you pull away from situations, or you don’t say what you really think, or you begin a pattern of people pleasing.

Another example could be that when you were in school, you were a little bit slower than your peers in developing skills in writing or math. This is perfectly reasonable, as everyone develops at different times, particularly with the disparity of age within a school year. It may be that you formed a view from an early age, that because you didn’t receive the same marks as your friends that you were not good at a particular aspect of school, this was an uncomfortable feeling. Your subconscious then responded to try to prevent you from experiencing that feeling by running a story of, “I’m not good at math, or I’m not good at English” so that you could manage your own and other people’s expectations, and not feel exposed to disappointment. As a result, you continue to run this dialogue and avoid utilising these skills, perhaps holding you back in areas that are now of genuine interest, or of importance to your career.

Another example could be relevant to relationships. For whatever reason, you didn’t meet the right the person when you were younger and first interested in relationships. Perhaps it was circumstance, or that the people you were focusing on were not the right fit for you. Whatever the reason, your subconscious wanted to protect you from feeling the discomfort of rejection, and so started a story of “I don't want a relationship”. The more that you run this story, the more that every part of you comes to believe it. Whilst this approach protects you from hurt in the short time, it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy as you approach situations with a limited frame of mind, rather than one that is open to opportunity and experience.

Overcoming Limiting Beliefs

The good news is, limiting beliefs do not have to be permanent, and you have the power to change them. Though this can be challenging, it can be done with focus on self-awareness and through a determination to challenge the old stories.

Try this.......

1. Start by paying attention to the critical voice in your head. Notice what stories you are telling yourself when it comes to situations and circumstance that you find challenging.

2. Write down those stories and test them against external reality

3. Respond with an action

For example:

Belief: “I’m not good enough for the promotion”

Test:”Who is good enough, and what makes them better than you”

Response:

i) Perhaps through this process you will realise you are as good if not better than others applying. This process demonstrates the awareness of the belief, challenge the belief by going through the experience, and interrupt the belief through proving it wrong.

ii) Perhaps through testing the reality of the situation you will realise you are not good enough, in which case, what is the action you will take to ensure you are good enough next time. In this way, you have awareness of the belief and are taking control of the narrative of the story and updating it to what you want your reality to be.

For some people, trying to challenge their limiting beliefs on their own will be a real struggle. Often when people have been living with these stories for a very long time, the behaviour is engrained and the assistance of a therapist to help you navigate the process will be beneficial.

It may also be that your limiting beliefs are impacting your state of happiness and life satisfaction to such an extent that there are signs of anxiety and depression. If this is the case, it is highly recommended that you seek the assistance of a therapist who can utilise Cognitive Behavioural Therapy ("CBT") and hypnosis to quickly disrupt the limiting beliefs and give you the tools you need to get your life on track in the direction that you want to go.

How can Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and Hypnosis work to interrupt Limiting beliefs?

The use of CBT and Hypnosis allow a person to subtly recognise how certain beliefs are not serving them. By weakening a person's attachment to his or her beliefs, the person may be more open to considering alternate ways to view their life and the actions available to them. While in hypnosis, positive shifts can then be brought about by suggesting better ideas and encouraging thinking that is more likely to achieve a person's objectives.

Our fundamental belief system determines how we think, feel and behave. If you feel that certain beliefs are making you unhappy or limiting your life in some way, we can help.

Minds of Distinction provide face to face services in bayside Melbourne and telehealth appointments Monday to Friday.

Visit www.mindsofdistinction.com.au to make an appointment.