Every day, we program ourselves with our own inner dialogue. We self-define who we are in the world, in our families, and in our society by our own inner narrative. Can we change our narrative? Yes, if we change the way we view ourselves in relation to the story of our past.

I will present some practical ways to change the way the past feels to us, as well as some ways to find and root out false assumptions or deductions we may have drawn with our child’s mind. Once this is accomplished our inner narrative changes automatically.

All healing lends itself to the presupposition that the ideal state of harmony, peace and balance is our natural state. We seem to have an inate compass that guides us towards happiness, empowerment and purpose, or at least lets us know when we are not moving in that direction. Our inner narrative, the story we tell ourself about ourselves, can support these ideals, or make them seem very very far away.

Changing our narrative about the past thereby changing the way we respond to memories, changes our future.

The past is literally just a thought in the mind right here, right now, similar to a mental hallucination and is often imbued with emotion. A well contextualized memory has very little or no emotional charge. Most often we look back on events from our past, even unpleasant ones, and see them as a neutral, see them objectively. However an unprocessed memory still has a strong emotional charge, still makes us feel something. By scanning our memories we can find opportunities to heal. To heal may be as simple as to fully processes and integrate a memory that still have an emotional charge.

If a memory has an emotional charge when you think back on it, this is THE answer as to what is influencing us unconsciously.

There are two ways that we deal with overwhelming experiences or feelings if we are not given the proper time or support to heal. We repress them, drive them out of our conscious mind to be dealt with at a later time. Or integrate them into our core beliefs.A core belief is the filter through which we see the world. (Or a combination of both.)

Repressed experiences tend to influence us without our conscious awareness. We may overreact to a situation and not know why. We may avoid certain things or feelings that may subconsciously begin to trigger or tickle something we don’t want to remember. ‘Your getting too close to that’ may be the subconscious response.

What we are truly repressing are the feelings, the emotions the event provoked in us. We may create complex behaviors in order to avoid feeling that feeling, often in an unconscious way. Anytime something begins to provoke or tickle that repressed feeling, we get triggered. Our subconscious ‘job’ is to keep it repressed which leads us to engage in any behavior that helps us avoid that feeling. This can lead to behaviors that we have a hard time changing…which may lead us to seek help ie. from a hypnotist. It is a hypnotist responsibility to understand that the behavior change is not always as simple as just changing a behavior. Or the client could have just done it themselves.

The expression or symptom of any imbalance ALWAYS points back to the root cause. When we repress an event or feeling, we try to stuff it down, not think about it and avoid it. We do this in order to be able to move forward, keep going in order to not be undone by it. This is common if we don’t have the proper time or the proper support we need to process a difficult situation.

The other way we deal with an experience that is not fully processed is to integrate it into our core beliefs. A core belief is a framework that we see the world through. This would be more probable with prolonged exposure to a negative experience. An example of a core belief that may develop from prolonged exposure to a negative experience is “The world is a dangerous place” “I am not important, I don’t matter.”, “Nothing good happens to me”, or simply an inner voice that belittles criticizes, or demeans us.

“This is the way the world is and how it always will be” would be the motto for this coping strategy. These core beliefs may show up as repeating patterns in a person’s life, reinforcing the core belief. For example, always ending up in abusive relationships, always putting others first, self-sabotage, etc.

As children, we often have distorted thinking and tend to personalize or take personally, events that happen to us. Ie.” I am bad, that’s why mom yells” Or “Mom and dad are getting a divorce because they don’t want me.” Obviously that is not true. But the way the information was contextualized back then IS the way we experience it now.

Here are four ways we can use hypnosis to heal from the past.

• Once we can revisit an experience using hypnosis, we begin to contextualize, re-evaluate and experience the past differently, from an adult perspective. By revisiting a situation we gain insight that can begin to change our inner narrative. Reframing is a simple and powerful tool.

• Another functional tool of hypnosis is catharsis. Catharsis, becoming aware, is the process of letting something repressed come up into the light of the mind. We become aware of something that had once been buried. Once we are conscious of it we can start to heal it. This also helps change our inner narrative.

• Inner-child work is another powerful tool. This hypnotic process takes you back to the younger you, the child self, to meet the needs of the child that weren’t being met. This involves validating the emotions and thoughts of the child, and extending what the child needed at the time but didn’t get. Basically it offers your inner child the support needed to finish the healing process that wasn’t available at the time. (Important note. This can be used for any age the feeling or behavior begins, even for our past adult selves) By finishing the healing process, a memory can be properly contextualized and filed away. There is no longer an emotional charge associated with the memory, therefore no longer a need to avoid triggering it.

• Lastly, We have not talked about grief or loss. Sometimes we hold onto a difficult feeling or negative memory as a form of loyalty. A way to stay attached to a significant event, as if memory is the only thing we have left. We will replay that unpleasant memory or pull up excruciating feelings of loss as a form of loyalty and love and as a way to make a person or event remain significant. ”I will not forget.” may be the motto of this behavior. But this can also be unhealthy. It blocks the final grieving stage of acceptance, which allows the mind to restore itself to peace. This can start to shift and heal if we become aware of this attachment and decide we want to attach our memory to a more positive association, or a memory that brings us more internal comfort. I call this re-association and it can be very effective in the hypnotic state.

I have presented a few practical ways to change the story of the past, root out false assumptions or deductions we can draw with our child’s mind, and begin to change the story. Once again, If we want to change our inner narrative we have to change the way we see ourselves in relation to the story of the past. Any limiting or negative beliefs are fair game.

Find the memories that still evoke strong emotional reactions and try using hypnosis plus one of these methods. Healing the past changes the way you see yourself…which changes the future! For more information please visit https://medium.com/@hypnosiscareertraining or https://www.hypnosiscareertraining.com