James Graham Hypnotherapy, Bathgate

Fully Registered Analytical Hypnotherapist in the Bathgate area.

HYPNOSIS. . . IT'S NOT WHAT YOU THINK. . .

A lot of people seem to have the wrong idea about what hypnosis actually is, and what it can do. So, for the record. . .

. . . You don't go 'out', you don't go 'under', you don't go 'unconscious', and you can't be made to do anything you don't really want to do.

Forget about what you've seen on stage, or tv -that's entertainment, and not the same as doing hypnosis in a therapeutic context in order to make beneficial changes in your life.

It helps if you think about your mind as having two distinct parts -the conscious mind, and the unconscious mind.

The conscious mind is the part you're normally aware of during your waking hours. It's your logical, rational, analytical mind, the part that contains your 'inner voice'. The unconscious, on the other hand, is your creative, imaginative, intuitive mind, the part where your 'gut instinct' comes from.


The unconscious actually controls a large part of your day: all the things you now do automatically, without having to really concentrate on anymore, anything from walking, tying your shoelaces, driving (for some! ), and any other skill that's been practised repeatedly.

In fact, most things we have learned to do were first learnt consciously, then repeatedly performed until they became automatic and therefore performed by the unconscious. Most of the time, this is a useful process, however, sometimes it can cause us problems. The unconscious takes anything done repeatedly -whether good or bad for us- and automates it. This includes bad habits (e. g. smoking or overeating), unhelpful ways of thinking, or even unusual ways of reacting to something (e. g. phobias).

So, what hypnotherapy does, is to access this unconscious part of the mind, identify the habit /belief causing the problem, and retrain it, using a variety of strategies, in order to eliminate and /or replace it with a more beneficial behaviour. This new, beneficial behaviour can then become the norm, and performed automatically, without much conscious effort at all.

All that's required from the client is a willingness to change, and an open mind.

Hypnotherapy's been used to help a huge amount of issues, and there's an increasingly large amount of research out there that backs up its effectiveness. So, no matter what your issue is, please get in touch, and at least see what it can offer. There are no such things on here as 'stupid questions', only ' questions', so ask whatever you want, and I'll be in touch as soon as I can

JAMES GRAHAM