Hypnosis: Where Conscious and Subconscious Mind Meet

Pioneer psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud was the first one to talk about the mind and its different levels of consciousness. According to Freud, there are three different levels of awareness; conscious, preconscious, and unconscious.

If you’ve ever seen the iceberg metaphor, you may know about these different levels of awareness already. Imagine an iceberg. The tip of the iceberg, the part that’s over the water, is the conscious part of the mind. The Preconscious is right below the surface and the deeper end of the iceberg is the unconscious part of the mind.

the Iceberg Metaphor

Today, although subconscious is not a medically accepted and used term, we use the word “subconscious” as the part of the mind that is below conscious awareness. Subconscious is a term that you may especially encounter within the health and wellness practices.

During hypnosis, the subconscious mind is the exact area that gets the most attention. So where and how does hypnosis take place?

What is the conscious mind?

The conscious mind is the part where our awareness lies. It consists of the things that we are consciously aware of and thinking about. For example, some conscious tendencies can be willpower, desires, satisfaction, memories, and sensations. Thanks to our conscious mind we recognize our potential or think rationally.

The conscious mind can adapt and change according to subconscious urges and temptations. Anything the conscious mind needs to hide from conscious awareness gets suppressed to the subconscious mind.

What is the subconscious mind?

The subconscious mind consists of the feelings, urges, or beliefs that are not in the conscious awareness. For example, things like core beliefs, habits, or some emotions are hidden in the subconscious mind. This is why we may find ourselves stuck in a habit although we are aware that it’s not good for us.

Imagine a traumatic experience. Negative emotions such as anger, shame, resentment, or fear surface as a result of memories and events. Regardless, daily life continues and it becomes hard for the conscious awareness to face these emotions. Therefore, they usually get suppressed in the subconscious mind.

The subconscious mind’s patterns are based on survival instincts. As a result, it’s hard to change the subconscious beliefs and decision-making process. We usually think that we are making conscious choices however, the subconscious mind makes the decisions about 10 seconds before the decision actually drops into your conscious awareness.

What is hypnosis like? 

Hypnosis is known to be a subconscious therapy. During hypnosis, the doors of the subconscious mind widen. The part that filters the information for the conscious awareness and the subconscious mind eases down and that’s when the magic happens.

In daily life, the mind filters all the information and finally decides to either keep the information in the conscious awareness, throw it out or suppress in the subconscious mind. However, this filtration system also prevents the subconscious mind from changing easily.

The hypnotic process slows this intense filter and opens the communication between conscious awareness and subconscious beliefs. This is when change becomes possible. After the hypnotic induction, the hypnotherapist usually gives positive suggestions, takes the mind through journeys, or helps the person to vent out negative emotions that were stored in the subconscious mind.  

For example, a person who subconsciously believes that they are not worthy of love will attract relationships that are not loving. To break this pattern, hypnotherapy can be a helpful tool. Revisiting childhood programmings, rediscovering self, or building a new identity can bring powerful results.

When to try hypnosis 

Although many people try hypnosis as last resort, hypnosis can be beneficial from the very beginning.

Hypnotherapy is usually known for smoking cessation, weight loss, or helping with fears and phobias. However, hypnotherapy has been applicable to many issues from anxiety to pain-related problems. After all, all hypnosis does is changing subconscious beliefs. Any belief you have about pain, family, money, relationships, yourself, or about almost anything can and will affect your end result.