| So just what is the nature of a psychosomatic problem?
Well, as already stated, it is a problem associated with the mind, and some of these problems can become so
deep-rooted that they eventually start to affect the body. We already know that the mind is in two parts - you have a conscious mind, and a subconscious mind. The
conscious mind has reason, logic, the ability to think and deals with day-to-day decision making etc. It's the part that you control. The subconscious mind has no
reason or logic, it is concerned only with emotions, memories, and imagination, and controls the body's autonomic nervous system. In many ways, the subconscious mind
has more control of you than you do of it! That's because whenever there is a conflict in the mind between the reason and logic of the conscious mind, and the
emotional state of the subconscious mind, then the emotions will usually win!
For instance, let's look at a phobia, which is a psychosomatic problem. A common one is Arachnophobia -
the fear of spiders. Mary has a fear of spiders. Whenever she sees one she panics, and gets frightened, refusing to go near it, until someone has removed it. She knows
consciously that she shouldn't be afraid of the spider; in fact, she will tell you herself that she feels foolish, which only compounds the fear more. She knows that
there is no reason why she should fear the spider. However, she will also tell you that she can't help being afraid, and may or may not know when or how it started.
Now Mary's fear may have been triggered only a few years ago, or when she was younger. At least, there is one thing that is sure - it is a 'learned' fear; Mary wasn't
born with it, and therefore has picked up that fear in some experience. Over the years, the phobia has got worse, and whereas Mary may have started being a little
nervous when she saw a spider, it has escalated to the point where she hyperventilates and becomes hysterical, her heart racing etc - it is now affecting her body It is the same with John's compulsion to smoke - another
psychosomatic problem - he knows all about the damage to his health, the health of his family through passive smoking, the unpleasant smell etc; but he will also say
that it is a habit which he can't kick or control. This is because the problems are anchored in the subconscious mind, and the subconscious is generally victorious
over the conscious reason and logic! How do we change
that, how do we 'cure' it? Well first of all we need to bypass the conscious mind using hypnosis. Then we feed positive, life-affirming, psychological
suggestions directly to the subconscious mind to affect change. In effect, we replace one pattern with another, and with repetition this has a cumulative effect that
usually quite quickly is accepted by the subconscious mind as a legitimate pattern of behaviour for it to activate within you. Mary's arachnophobia, the fear, is
replaced and, whilst she does not like spiders, she no longer fears them and can see them without reacting. John's compulsion to smoke is replaced, and he doesn't want
to smoke anymore. Low self-esteem and poor confidence are replaced with positive feelings, and belief in abilities and self-worth, and life changes because the mindset
changed etc. A qualified professional Hypnotherapist can
help, and can through teaching you self-hypnosis and working with you to formulate and apply the right therapy, help you to rid yourself of the problem. Let me say
that again: Help you to rid yourself of the problem. Let's be clear on that - it is your problem, and is within your mind, and the therapist is the guide, teacher,
confidante, and shows you how to do it for yourself, and in doing so, you learn a skill that will assist you whenever you need for the rest of your life - now that's
something worth investing in isn't it. |
