Therapies We Use
By now you must be wondering what exactly we do to achieve the results you are looking for and how this is going to work?
In this section of the website we are going to explain how the mind works and the therapy techniques we will use to change your mindset to bring about change.
How Does The Mind Work
The answer to this question could obviously take a life-time to respond to but here are a few interesting facts:
The mind is divided into 2 areas: The Conscious Mind and the Subconscious Mind
Your Conscious Mind takes up about 10% of the capacity of the Mind. The Subconscious mind is about 90% is a powerhouse of information, none of which can be lost other than due to physical trauma or disease.
- The Conscious Mind thinks it is the boss! It is the egotistical, logical, reasoning part of your mind and its main roles are to keep you alive by avoiding pain and to make you happy – but keeping you alive is its priority
- The Subconscious Mind is the data bank wherein your memories, learnings, fears, phobias, hopes, dreams, values and habits are stored.
- The Conscious Mind does not want anyone interfering in its data bank so will reject interference/suggestions even if they are for your benefit!
- The Subconscious Mind does not recognise negatives, is not logical, does not know the difference between good and bad, doesn’t have any sense of time and does not know the difference between real and imagined. It also learns by repetition until the suggested behaviour/response becomes automatic.
So, therapy is about getting both parts of the mind to work together for your benefit and to allow you to enjoy life and achieve your full potential so our job is to use the various therapy techniques in our tool box to reprogram it so that your thoughts create the desired feelings and responses to get the life you want.
As with all Mind Solutions therapies and programs, confidentiality is of utmost importance in our consultations and your therapist will help you in a non-judgmental, empathetic and caring way to understand why you are experiencing the challenges and symptoms, get to the root cause and provide the solutions you need to get back on track as quickly as possible.
What is Psychotherapy?
Sometimes referred to as a talk based therapy, psychotherapy involves a professional meeting with an adult, a child, a couple or a family to help them work through issues which are affecting their wellbeing or preventing them from reaching their full potential in life.
Psychotherapy is also an umbrella term for many other types of therapy – some of which we use in our sessions, such as Hypnotherapy, Neuro Linguistic Programming, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and Control System.
Whilst open, honest sharing is certainly an important part of psychotherapy, it does not only involve talking about your problems but is also about identifying solutions, changes and new, realistic and achievable goals. And while the past may be reviewed and discussed to help explain or understand certain things in your life or the way you are feeling now, we prefer to focus on the present – mindful self- healing in the present, to help you lay down the foundations for a happier, more fulfilling future.
Your psychotherapist may ask you to do some work outside of the sessions, such as keeping a journal, trying new activities, exposing yourself to certain situations, exercising, eating a healthy diet, getting more sleep, adjusting your work/life balance and more.
At Mind Solutions, we take a very holistic approach to therapy and healing, looking at all aspects of your life and changing the ones that are negatively impacting it. In this way, the therapy moves out of the therapy room and into your everyday life in the form of new behaviours, new reactions, better perspectives and generally a more positive and robust emotional well-being.
Whereas hypnotherapy deals with issues in a short period of time, usually four sessions or less, psychotherapy can involve just a couple of sessions or can be held over a longer period of time, depending on the nature and depth of the issue. When used together, these two types of therapy – hypnotherapy and psychotherapy – are extremely powerful and effective, often in a surprisingly short space of time.
Psychotherapy can help people work through and process a wide variety of issues and worries, such as stress, anxiety, depression, phobias and fears, identifying and achieving well-being, lifestyle, sports, career goals, addictions, traumas (past or recent), grief, illness and pain, job changes, relationship difficulties and much more.
What is Hypnotherapy?
Hypnotherapy is very similar to Psychotherapy in that it starts with in-depth questioning to ascertain issues, history, goals etc. Hypnosis is then used to enable the client to be guided into a deep level of relaxation, during which their subconscious mind is able to focus on and accept appropriate and beneficial life changing suggestions to achieve the goals identified.
The therapist’s role is to guide the client into this calm, relaxed state and then start to suggest new ideas, concepts and lifestyle changes to the client’s subconscious mind, which will help them to achieve their goals and enjoy a better quality of life. The subconscious learns by repetition so by listening to the hypnosis as often as possible in their own time, the client will quickly start to notice that they are feeling more in control of their life. It is worth pointing out that the client is totally in control throughout the session and will simply snap out of hypnosis if suggestions are made that are contrary to their wishes or values.
Hypnotherapy is a useful tool for reprogramming faulty patterns of behaviour, negative mindsets and unhealthy habits such as addictions, suppressed emotions, fears, phobias and self-esteem issues etc as well as helping with positive changes such as confidence building, motivation to succeed and many other attitude shifts, which help clients to lead a happier, healthier, more balanced and fulfilling life.
What Is Neuro Linguistic Programming?
The co-founders of NLP, Richard Bandler and John Grinder, claimed NLP would be instrumental in finding ways to help people have better, fuller and richer lives. NLP is a short term, goal-orientated and practical therapeutic approach to problem solving.
We all have the resources we need to make positive changes in our lives. NLP techniques are tools that harness your resources to facilitate these changes, leaving you free to concentrate on what you are thinking, feeling and experiencing and helping you to create new patterns of behaviour to improve your quality and enjoyment of your life.
NLP, combined with hypnotherapy, can help you find effective solutions to your problems quickly, whether you want to reduce stress, overcome anxiety, let go of the past, heal hurt, stop negative thinking or just improve your golf swing or public speaking skills. NLP will help you to evaluate your issues, find focus, direction and the confidence to make the changes and live a life that is challenging yet congruent, harmonious, productive, satisfying and fun!
Often when we attempt to resolve issues on our own, we end up either putting things off or giving up. However, the longer we procrastinate, the longer we are waiting for the happiness we can have right now. Sometimes, we need encouragement and determination to face painful memories and regrets from the past to be able to accept and move on. NLP is a powerful tool which empowers people to identify what is holding them back, the root cause of their issues and the strengths and resources that they already have within them.
In just a few sessions, you will change the way you feel about your situation and your ability to resolve it. You will feel more relaxed, happy and free than you have for a long time. The result of that is improved communication skills, warmer relationships, better interactions, harmony, contentment and success. Let go of internal conflicts, unhappiness, feelings of failure and frustration, reluctance, hesitation or anxiety. Let go of mood swings and hurting the people you care about and who care about you.
NLP is fast, powerful and permanent. Of course, there is no guarantee that you will never again experience challenges but you will now have the resources and skills that will help you to feel stronger and more able to deal with any difficulty or challenges that come your way.
What Is Parts Therapy?
When we are born, we are like a blank sheet of paper. What happens over the first 7 or so years of our lives, creates a blue-print for the rest of our lives. Our personality is made up of many different parts, there to protect us and guide us and make us the unique person we were created to be. These parts have valuable qualities and skills and when they all work together, things can go well. But, if we are not given the support, nurturing, guidance, protection that every child has a right to from its parents/family/carers, if life throws us too many curve balls, some of those parts will become overly protective and start creating negative reactions that of often self-destructive and then life as an adult can be full of disappointment, conflict and emotional pain. Parts therapy aims to identify the rogue parts and why they have adopted this role, reassure the parts that the client is ok and able to handle things now as an adult and that they can be released from their overly protective roles to do more fun and positive things to bring about harmony and joy in the client’s life.
What Is Regression Therapy?
Regression Therapy is another therapy technique we use in an attempt to resolve negative and/or traumatic events from the client’s past, often childhood that are having a detrimental effect of the client’s mental and emotional wellbeing and quality of life. This is useful to discover the root cause of phobias, fears, anxiety and trust/relationship issues. By rewriting the memories and stories from the past, the client is often able to acknowledge what happened and that it was not their fault, let go of any feelings of shame, anger, guilt, hurt, leave the past where it belongs and move on with their life.
What is visualisation?
Have you ever cried in a movie or got excited about going on vacation or scared before an examination or driving test? That is because you are visualizing how that situation could be whether that is a positive or negative experience and that triggers an emotional response.
Our subconscious mind does not know the difference between real and imagined. One of the most powerful tools for creating change in our lives is to first see it in our minds. If you are thinking you don’t have a good imagination, ask yourself how you choose what you want to eat in a restaurant? You read the menu and immediately imagine how that is going to look and smell and taste and if that is what you feel like eating. You are simply ‘visualising’ or ‘making it up’ in your mind. Think about a person who has a fear of mice. Would they be afraid if they visualised that mouse as a cute little thing rather than a huge man-eating rat?
Our imagination is a truly amazing tool for helping us to visualise how things could be in the future and bringing about the changes required to achieve that.
What Is Cognitive Behaviour Therapy?
Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is a talk-based therapy which helps the client to cope with problems by focusing on their negative thoughts, beliefs and attitudes, all of which have a direct impact on subsequent feelings and reactions. Using CBT, we help the client to see things in a whole new, positive light, analysing and breaking down their outdated perceptions, limitations and instinctive reactions based, on the past and finding a different way to think, feel and respond which will lead to the desired outcome
Which Therapy is Right For Me?
Your therapist will help you choose which is going to be the most effective for you, based on what your issues, personality, goals and availability are. We usually recommend a combination of one or two or more of the therapies and will always talk through the options with you first in case you have any questions.
For answers to any further questions you have on the therapies we use, check out the Q&A section and blogs or email us and we will get back to you asap. Alternatively, take advantage of our complimentary introductory consultation and we can answer your questions then