For so many of us, the way we perceive ourselves seems like nothing more than a fixed set of facts about ourselves that we know to be true. Very few of us question the beliefs we hold about ourselves. Because if anyone in this world knows us….it’s us, right?

 

Well, no, not necessarily. The truth is that many of the beliefs which we have about ourselves often started out as distorted misunderstandings which we absorbed from other people and our environment as children.

 

This is because from an early age we are exposed to ideas about ourselves. This could be direct or indirect comments made by our families or caregivers. It could be absorbing the messages of culture, society and the media and naturally comparing ourselves in the context of that distorted messaging. Wherever we adopted these ideas from, these external ideas are often internalised and develop into our own self-perception and self-talk.

 

If you grew up in a perfect family in a perfect society (!) then all of these messages will have been to your benefit. However, if not - there is a very good chance that there are aspects of your self-perception and self-talk which are inaccurate and unhelpful. 

 

One of the reasons for this is because at exactly the same time that we are developing our sense of identity, we are also the most highly suggestible that we will ever be.

 

In fact, the brainwave pattern associated with heightened suggestibility in hypnosis (theta) is actually our dominant brainwave pattern before around the age of 7. In tandem with this, the areas of our brain which govern critical thinking, reasoning and analytical thinking are one of the last areas to develop and mature. Which means that as children we have very little scope for critiquing or truly questioning the ideas that we are exposed to about ourselves.

 

This means that during infancy, the information that we are exposed to about ourselves sticks. This is true whether it’s information and opinions which are directly and explicitly said to you, subtly inferred or overheard in passing. It also includes the ideas you came to develop about yourself as a natural result of self-comparison, with everyone from your siblings and peers, to celebrities and movie stars.

 

So, despite the fact that this concoction of comments, comparisons and inferences greatly influences our own perception of ourselves, very few of us stop to truly question how valid, accurate or helpful these ideas are.

 

In Cognitive Behavioural Hypnotherapy we use a CBT technique called Cognitive Restructuring combined with hypnosis to adapt and improve some of the distorted, inaccurate and unhelpful ideas you have about yourself. This simple but incredibly powerful method helps you to rewrite your self-perception and self-talk into something more accurate, helpful and empowering.