Good therapists want to empower their clients to eventually be able to care for their own emotional needs. A large part of treatment entails training patients to reframe the ways they look at themselves, and educate them about how the brain works. 
 
When a client has a hypnotherapy session, the conscious, normal waking awareness is relaxed so that it can communicate more openly with the subconscious and unconscious parts of the mind. When this occurs, the client is able to identify the emotions behind behaviors that are creating the need for treatment, and go to the source of these feelings. 
 
This is accomplished with age regression, a technique that allows clients to connect current difficulties with past events. By following the trail of a negative opinion about one’s intellectual abilities, for example, a client might regress to a scene where, as an eight-year-old, a teacher imparted that damaging message. 
 
In the session, the client is encouraged to allow the eight-year-old, who is likely to have been frozen into silence by sheer shame, or crushed under the shadow of an inflexible authority figure, to speak. As the younger version of the client expresses the underlying emotions, a discovery is made. The client comes to realize what that damaging experience did to their self esteem. The conclusion could have been, perhaps, “I’m dumb.” As a result, the client may have avoided opportunities that required more brain power than they thought they had. 
 
If a person goes through life with an underlying assumption such as that, life can become a series of fearful confrontations with authority and fears of being too “dumb” to avoid abject failure. This might be the kind of life experience that leads a person into therapy to begin with. Going to the source of this assumption offers opportunities for corrective experiences. The client can give that younger version of themselves a voice, and express the emotions. But, even more important in terms of the client’s healing, it becomes possible to revise that conclusion that their subconscious has been repeating over and over again. 
 
 “I’m dumb” can be transformed into “I’m smart!” when the client comes to realize that they’ve been operating in a way that is not only supportive to their goals, but also completely erroneous. Then, the client can begin to embrace opportunities that are intellectually challenging, based on the new belief that they are competent enough to perform complex tasks, and wise enough to ask for help when it’s needed. 

Helping clients to see the truth about themselves is a good first step, but in order to support them in the act of self-empowerment, it’s necessary to teach them how to make changes in their attitudes. Raising the client’s consciousness about the words they use to describe themselves is especially important.  

Therapists can help clients to form positive affirmations that take what was learned in the hypnotherapy session and use it to reprogram old behavior patterns that are self-sabotaging. These affirmations, in addition to being affirmative, need to carry some other characteristics, including: 

• Present tense language: “I am successful” as opposed to “I will be successful.” 
• Keeping the intention on target: “I know I am smart” rather than “I guess I am pretty smart.” 
• Enjoyment in the act of experiencing the new condition as an accomplished fact  

The manner in which we talk to ourselves has everything to do with what we eventually achieve, or fail to do. Using self-deprecating language as a matter of course, even in humor, produces undesired results. In hypnosis and hypnotherapy, we discover that the communication between the conscious and subconscious parts of the brain that is happening all of the time has profound effects on behavior. 
 
That is why it’s crucial to train clients to speak well of themselves, to encourage themselves with self-talk that is supportive and nurturing. Working with them to find new conclusions, and new  choices about their behavior will help them to develop healthier patterns and live happier lives. 
 
Empowering clients through raising their self-esteem is the goal of many therapists, and hypnotherapy can be a huge help in this process. It’s one thing to talk about these issues in sessions, but when the client experiences the way they felt when these ideas first developed, the results are extremely powerful. They are far more likely to cooperate with the therapist’s efforts to encourage positive and affirming attitudes and self-talk. 

With age regression through hypnotherapy, therapists are equipped to do this work much more quickly than they can with talk therapy alone. Hypnotherapy is an evidence-based modality, and age regression is becoming increasingly well known and popular with the public. When you enroll in the Six Day Hypnotherapy Training Program at The Wellness Institute, you’ll receive two certifications, in Heart-Centered Hypnotherapy® and age regression.  
 
During the course, you’ll get to experience Hypnotherapy and age regression as a client, as well as a therapist and observer. Our live, online training program is as convenient as it is comprehensive. You’ll learn how to conduct sessions in hypnosis and hypnotherapy using age regression, and how to apply it to common client issues. 
 
The Wellness Institute celebrates a family of like minded therapists who value the complete humanity of clients. There are also many opportunities to advance your training and continue doing your transformational work. Check out the advanced training opportunities that are open to graduates of the Six Day Hypnotherapy Training and Certification Program. CEUs are available, in most cases, to our students at all levels. 
 
These classes fill fast, so save your place as soon as possible. Visit our website, or contact our Operations Support Manager for personal, complete, and helpful information. Choose the course that fits your schedule, and  

Enroll in the Six Day Hypnotherapy Training and Certification Course!