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Hypnotherapy: Marian's Story

by Barrie St John

Marian's inspirational story is told by Barrie St. John and details how he helped her make important changes to her life via hypnotherapy

(Story theme: Hypnotherapy)

Using Hypnotherapy to Change Behaviour

Do you struggle with negative beliefs? Have you tried to change destructive, unhelpful habits, hoping to transform them into positive, resourceful ones? If you have, you probably noticed it's easier said than done. But as a therapist I've seen many cases where hypnosis has made all the difference, allowing people to shed unhelpful beliefs and break bad habits far more quickly and completely than any amount of positive affirmations.

Marian came to see me because she felt generally “stuck” in her life. Nothing was how she had hoped it would be and she couldn't see any way out of the hole she was in. She had decided that she really wanted to change, but wasn't sure how to go about it. She felt that she needed help to move towards a better, more fulfilling life, so she came to me looking for some life coaching.

It quickly became obvious that Marian had a whole tranche of negative beliefs that were holding her back. It's true she'd had difficult experiences, but she was finding it hard to move on. One thing that was causing her great difficulty was social interaction. She talked about how hurt she was that certain people didn't like her. If they saw her in the street, they wouldn't smile, wave or come up to her to say hello, even though they had once been friends. She knew they disliked her, and she just wanted to hide any time they were in sight. As they lived in the same town, it was difficult to avoid seeing them.

When I dug a little deeper, it turned out that these people had also been good friends of an ex partner. The relationship had ended acrimoniously and Marian was sure that her ex had told a very one sided version of events to their friends. She was sure they now thought she was controlling, over sensitive, and intense.

With a little challenging, even Marian could accept that she wasn't projecting a particularly positive or welcoming image to the people involved. If she saw them she would hunch down in her coat, stick her hands in her pockets and look away, to avoid being snubbed by them. At the same time, she thought that if they actually liked her, they would make the effort of coming over and speaking to her.

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that Marian was creating her own isolation. She was giving off “leave me alone” vibes on a big scale. However, although Marian reluctantly admitted that this might be a factor in what was happening, she just couldn't bring herself to risk waving and smiling the next time she saw them.

After a couple of weeks with no progress, I persuaded Marion to let me use hypnotherapy. It took just one session. The bulk of the session focussed on calmness, relaxation and confidence, building up a belief that nothing and no-one would bother her as much as usual; in normally stressful situations, she would feel much more calm, relaxed and confident than usual. And while she was deeply relaxed, her unconscious mind was accessible and receptive, so we planted the belief that these people who had seemed to be giving her the cold shoulder were really just respecting the messages she was giving out.

The results were instantaneous. The very next day she was presented with an opportunity. She spotted one of the people she had a problem with at the other end of a department store. Instead of avoiding her and running away, Marion went over to her, smiling and greeting her. To her surprise the other woman seemed genuinely pleased to catch up with her, and they actually had a pleasant conversation that lasted some time.

This was a sobering encounter for Marian. She had to face the fact that a large number of her problems were caused by her own thoughts and beliefs. But it was also a revelation. Ha ving seen the power that hypnosis had to help her change her thinking, and as a result change her behaviour, Marion chose to use hypnosis to deal successfully with several of her most serious problems. As a result she is now living a life that she had only dreamed of. She started painting again (she had always wanted to be a painter but had decided that she would never be good enough) and is building a reputation in the local area. She has an excellent social life, has repaired her relationships with her wider family, has moved to live in the place she always wanted to, and has tentatively started looking for a new partner to share her life.

In short, she is a completely different person to the person who walked through my door that first day. And she's the first to agree that it was hypnosis that allowed her to make the changes she was unable to make on her own.

So if you're stuck in negative patterns, if you keep trying to change, but don't seem to be able to, you might want to let hypnosis be the catalyst for you too.

By Barrie St John

Barrie St John is a leading authority in the field of hypnotherapy. He has worked with many clients on a one-to-one basis - helping them to resolve almost any issue you could possibly think. He is also the author of almost 100 high quality hypnotherapy downloads, only available exclusively from HypnoShop.com