Misophonia: Why are trigger sounds from loved ones even more frustrating?

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Living with misophonia can be an incredibly challenging experience, especially when the sounds that trigger your intense emotional reactions come from those you love. Understanding why these particular sounds are so pronounced and finding ways to cope with this frustrating condition is crucial for maintaining healthy relationships and mental well-being.

Misophonia is characterized by strong emotional or physiological responses triggered by specific sounds. The underlying cause of misophonia is believed to involve distorted processing of certain sounds in the brain. It's not the sound itself but how the brain perceives the sound that triggers such intense responses. Our brains convert vibrations picked up by the ear into neural signals, which are then processed by the auditory cortex and other parts of the brain. This process, known as auditory perception, gives meaning to what we hear. For misophonic individuals, this process becomes distorted, leading to heightened sensitivity to specific trigger sounds.

When misophonic triggers are a part of mealtimes, it can make what most people find a pleasurable and connecting experience particularly difficult for those with misophonia. How is it that the triggering sounds at mealtime can be even more irritating when made by those you care about most? This is because our brains are wired to pay more attention to sounds made by people we care about, leading to heightened sensitivity and stronger reactions.

Consider a child growing up in a household with strict or emotionally volatile parents. Mealtimes, usually a time for family bonding, can become distressing. For a powerless child, being fed represents love and power. Whoever provides food has control. The child is reliant on the parent for sustenance. For a child with a strict or emotionally reactive parent, the desire to be good, lovable, and fed, while simultaneously avoiding reprimand, can embed a lasting association between eating sounds and emotional distress.

The child might develop a heightened sensitivity to the sounds of eating as they internalize the stress and fear associated with mealtime. Combined with additional cognitive distortions that characterize misophonia, this can be a factor in the phenomena of mealtime triggers or heightened response to triggers from those we love and want to have love us.

As an adult, the individual with misophonia may develop their own strict rules and expectations about eating and mealtimes and unconsciously transfer their unrealistic expectations onto those around them. It is hard for those without misophonia to relate to mealtimes being an unpleasant or stressful experience, because their perceptions about food, the provision of and sharing of food has been forged in a different environment. Misophonia is a complex condition. It goes without saying, that this example is not true for every misophonic individual, but combined with other cognitive traits in can partially explain why triggers are more prevalent at mealtimes and with those we most love.

Finding ways to manage misophonia is essential for improving quality of life. Hypnotherapy has shown promise in helping alter the perception of trigger sounds, reducing their emotional impact. Communication with loved ones about your condition and establishing mutual understanding and support is crucial for maintaining healthy relationships despite the challenges of misophonia. Sometimes, learning about misophonia can also feel empowering.

 Misophonia is a very real and frustrating condition but understanding and learning effective coping strategies can make a significant difference. By addressing cognitive distortions and exploring therapeutic options, individuals with misophonia can find relief and improve their ability to navigate a world filled with challenging sounds.

Author - Andrea Loughran Hypnotherapist

Minimise Misophonia with Hypnotherapy

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Trigger Warning: Please note descriptive examples of trigger sounds are given in the first paragraph titled ‘What is Misophonia?’

After that all triggers are given the generic term of ‘trigger sound’, ‘trigger noise’ or ‘trigger’. without any description.

WHAT IS MISOPHONIA?

Misophonia is a condition characterized by strong emotional or physiological responses triggered by specific sounds. These sounds are often repetitive and commonly include chewing, swallowing, lip-smacking, sniffing, ticking or tapping sounds. People with misophonia may experience intense feelings of irritation, anger, anxiety, or disgust when exposed to these trigger sounds. Misophonia is a very real and frustrating condition for sufferers.

WHAT CAUSES MISOPHONIA?

Misophonia is believed to involve an abnormal processing of certain auditory stimuli in the brain. The issue is not the sound, but the individual’s perception of the sound.

THE CORE CHALLENGES FACED BY CLIENTS WITH MISOPHONIA

• Becoming fixated by the trigger sound, amplifying its effect

• Escalating sensitivity and alertness to the trigger sound

• Irrational and uncontrollable emotional response to a trigger sound

• General negative outlook regarding the prevalence and magnitude of triggers in day-to-day activities

THE BRAIN’S ROLE IN HEARING

The brain’s role in hearing is a complex process. In simplified terms, the brain understands sound by converting vibrations picked up by the ear into neural signals, which are then processed by the auditory cortex and other parts of the brain. Our brain gives meaning to what we hear, and this process is called auditory perception.

Hypnotherapy is useful as it works to alter the way the misophonic client perceives the sound they have become hyperreactive to.

WHAT IS AUDITORY PERCEPTION?

Auditory perception is the process by which the brain interprets and makes sense of the sounds detected by the ears. The sound vibration is the information, but it is the auditory cortex in conjunction with other parts of the brain that co-ordinate and attribute meaning to the sound the ears process. The process is both physical (transference of the vibration within the ear) and cognitive (the process of naming and understanding what the sound means).

One of the most critical functions of hearing is to recognize threats. However, it is the perception of the sound—what we believe the sound signifies—that determines whether it represents danger and how we should respond.

WHAT DOES THE HYPNOTHERAPY PROGRAM DO FOR INDIVIDUALS WITH MISOPHONIA?

The four part program helps individuals with misophonia transition from feeling irritated and distracted to achieving a more regulated, commonplace, even impartial response by using hypnotherapy to alter the thought patterns that lead to fixation, hyper-sensitivity, hyper-reactivity and hyper-alertness.

WHAT IS THE MINIMISE MISOPHONIA HYPNOTHERAPY PROGRAM?

The Minimise Misophonia Program is a four-part hypnotherapy program consisting of four one-hour sessions. In each session, we uncover one of the thinking styles (cognitive styles) that support misophonic thinking and misophonic responses. Using hypnotherapy, we adjust the relevant thought process to minimize the misophonic response.

 There are four main Cognitive Styles supporting Misophonia and these four styles contribute to fixation, amplification, hypser-sensitivity, hyper-alertness, and irrational emotional response.

The Minimize Misophonia Hypnotherapy Program, is an exclusive, specialised, all-natural and uncomplicated four-stage hypnosis program crafted specifically for those with heightened auditory sensitivity. Each hypnosis session runs for 50-60 minutes, making the MM a relatively short treatment time. Recordings of each session are provided for the client to listen to and keep.

HOW DOES THE MM PROGRAM HELP MINIMISE THE FOUR COGNITIVE DISTORTIONS THAT SUPPORT MISOPHONIA?

Cognitive Styles

Cognitive style refers to an individual's preferred way of processing information, thinking, and solving problems, characterized by patterns of perception, memory, and decision-making. While some might describe it as a 'personality trait,' this is an oversimplification.

Our senses are continuously bombarded with information that the brain must decipher. To filter all the stimuli without becoming overwhelmed, the brain makes predictions and shortcuts, known as cognitive styles. This process leads many thought patterns to become automatic.

The brain applies this to all stimuli, including auditory information. A cognitive style is a habitual and automatic pattern of thinking that, being programmed into the subconscious, is rarely questioned or tested. For instance, positive thinking is a cognitive style where one generally thinks optimistically, which may or may not be accurate, but it leads the individual to have a generally upbeat frame of mind.

Cognitive styles are learned or developed throughout life and are malleable. Misophonia, a condition marked by an extreme reaction to specific sounds, is associated with certain cognitive distortions linked to specific cognitive styles.

To understand how cognitive styles affect individuals with misophonia, let's examine how particular cognitive styles predispose an individual to the cognitive distortions that result in this condition.

What is a cognitive distortion and how is it related to misophonia?

A cognitive distortion occurs when a cognitive style is misapplied, affecting the individual’s ability to cope effectively with their situation. For example, a person with a positive thinking cognitive style might overlook negative or harmful aspects of their environment, leading to poor risk assessment and potential harm or disappointment.

Almost every cognitive style requires a reality check to test its usefulness in a given situation. With a cognitive distortion, this check is missing, leading to an imbalance in thinking. In simple terms, a cognitive distortion opposes balanced thinking strategies and clouds the individual’s ability to accurately assess what is happening around them.

Most forms of obsessive behavior are rooted in cognitive distortions. Cognitive distortions cause individuals to magnify their focus on what they expect, overlooking environmental stimuli that contradict their expectations, similar to an overly positive thinker. This is also known as cognitive bias, and it occurs in everyone to some extent. In cases of obsessive fixation, individuals lose the ability to realistically evaluate the object of their obsession.

In the case of misophonia, the individual distorts the perceived threat or offensiveness of the trigger sound – it is their perception that is distorted, not the sound itself. This explains why misophonia can transfer across various sounds without logical explanation, as the condition is largely a distorted subconscious process.

Since auditory perception is a subconscious process and hypnotherapy targets subconscious patterns, hypnotherapy is an effective method for balancing cognition and reducing fixation.

So how does cognitive distortion affect misophonia?

The main part of the brain that processes sound is the auditory cortex. The auditory cortex is perpetually filtering, filing, and categorising sound to make meaning of it. It develops short cut responses to what it can reasonably expect from what it hears.

In the case of misophonia, some of those automatic responses are misfiring, causing cognitive distortion of the trigger sound - it appears louder, or more threatening than it would be for another person.

The sound isn’t the problem, the cognitive distortion of the sound is the issue.

Hypnotherapy works on the subconscious cognitive distortion to reset the way the brain filters and understands the trigger noises and this is why hypnotherapy is a useful approach to minimise misophonia.

WHAT ARE THE CHARACTERISTIC COGNITIVE PATTERNS OF MISOPHONIA?

1st Cognitive Style: Emotional Frame of Reference

Individuals who operate from an emotional frame of reference, use their feelings as the primary measure of events in their world.

Cognitive Distortion: Subjective Referencing

Misophonic individuals often rely heavily on their emotions to gauge the level of threat or offensiveness, rather than consulting objective evidence to assess the actual degree of inconvenience or danger.

Missing Cognitive Check: The ability to switch in and out of subjective and objective measures.

When an individual with an emotional frame of reference anchors their perception to their feelings alone and then believe these feelings to be the only valid gauge of what is occurring, they begin distancing themselves from accurate evaluation strategies that individuals without obsessive tendencies naturally employ.

This reliance on emotion-based data, devoid of real-world measures, sets the individual on a path towards fixation. If a sensation feels intense and no contradictory evidence is considered, it inevitably seems drastically disturbing to them. There is no balanced measure available to regulate the individual’s para-sympathetic nervous system.

Hypnotherapeutic Intervention: Hypnotherapy works on the subconscious imbalance by introducing a new step, allowing the client to access objective awareness to include all relevant information for a more-rounded perspective. This enables the misophonic individual to better manage their emotional response. The upside is, this is probably a skill they already use in other areas of the life, but for some reason they have ceased applying it in regard to the trigger sound.

2nd Cognitive Style: Precise Nature (Attention to Detail)

You may have heard the saying, "What you focus on, you magnify." Focusing on a problem that cannot be changed will almost always amplify the problem. You may have also heard the phrase, “What you resist, persists”. Having the capacity to determine what is most important, threatening, or offensive and how to change it, is a useful skill. So is the ability to recognize when something cannot be changed and then removing attention from it onto something else. Sometimes, individuals with an exacting nature, can lose the aforementioned steps and get lost in “shoulds”.

Cognitive Distortion: Fixation

Fixation is a two-step process where there is an inaccurate determination of controllability, followed by an inability to turn focus away. Psychotherapists refer to this as obsessive association and it is a consuming, self-perpetuating trap.

The individual with misophonia becomes transfixed with whatever sound is offensive and becomes attached to the meaning they give to the trigger sound and are unable to move their awareness off it.

Alternatively, an indifferent person would recognize that the noise is a brief unwanted distraction and return to doing whatever they are doing, effectively moving on and avoiding the fixation trap.

Missing Cognitive Check: Combining Acceptance and Dissociation Cognitive Skills

Individuals with obsessive tendencies often struggle to distinguish between what they can and cannot influence. When this is followed by an inability to disconnect, the individual may end up attempting to fix the unfixable.

Hypnotherapeutic Intervention: Hypnotherapy combines two cognitive strategies: acceptance and dissociation.

•  Step 1. Acceptance: Hypnotherapy focuses on activating a realistic assessment process to determine influence. Once the client has a better understanding of what they can control, they can either use objective means to reduce or stop the distraction or subjectively choose to shift their focus away from it. In other words, hypnotherapy embeds the cognitive sequence necessary to distinguish between attempting to fix something and fixating on it.

• Step 2. Dissociation: Dissociation is a cognitive skill where the individual learns to deliberately shift their focus from one concern to another. The subconscious mind continuously separates what is important from what is not, identifying what can be influenced and what cannot. Once the mind determines what is important and can be influenced, it then considers the secondary process of choosing where to best place focus. This involves choosing between association or dissociation, essentially the deliberate shifting of focus.

Hypnotherapy works on recalibrating the subconscious process of association and dissociation.

Combining these two hypnotic strategies effectively breaks the trap of fixation.

3rd Cognitive Style: Present Orientation

Individuals with misophonia can become trapped in the present moment, overwhelmed by the offensive trigger, and fail to recognize that the noise will soon end, cutting them off from the possibility of coping with the sound as a temporary annoyance. This inability to disconnect from the present and consider the future can also escalate their emotional responses, such as frustration, anger, and repulsion.

Cognitive Distortion: Inability to see the temporary nature of an experience

Individuals stuck in a present-oriented mindset are unable to measure the lifespan of an inconvenience, which distorts the magnitude of the problem they face.

Missing Cognitive Check: Using time to gauge the magnitude and impact of an inconvenience

You may have heard the saying, “This too shall pass.” Fixation requires the suspension of the ability to view experiences as temporary.

Hypnotherapeutic Intervention:

• Step 1. Introduce a useful subconscious check to measure the impact of a problem over time. Obviously, if something can reasonably be expected to be short-lived, its influence will be minimized. It is easier to cope with an inconvenience when you know it will be brief.

• Step 2. Use a future perspective to dissociate. By using duration as leverage the client shifts focus from the present problem to a point in the near future where the problem is reduced or resolved.

4th Cognitive Style: Negative Expectancy

Negative Expectancy refers to the cognitive bias where individuals anticipate poor outcomes disproportionately. This bias can become self-fulfilling, promoting avoidance or resistance to the offensive trigger, which further amplifies its effect. Negative expectancy increases both emotional sensitivity and reactivity.

Cognitive Distortion: Overestimating the likelihood of a negative outcome or inconvenience

For individuals with misophonia, negative expectancy not only amplifies the impact of an offensive sound but also presupposes an inability to cope with the sound when it appears. This presupposition can become self-perpetuating.

Missing Cognitive Check: Realistic Expectation

The ability to use all available evidence, subjective and objective, negative and positive, to arrive at a balanced and reasonable expectation.

Hypnotherapeutic Intervention: Hypnotherapy recalibrates expectancy by introducing probability as the principal reference for predicting daily events. By fostering a perspective based on probability, it mitigates uncertainty and negativity, thereby reducing anticipatory anxiety and hypersensitivity.

Minimise Misophonia Flow Chart #1a

Minimise Misophonia Flow Chart #1b

Author - Andrea Loughran Hypnotherapist

If you struggle with misophonia and would like the support of a hypnotherapist passionate about auditory perception and its role in mental and emotional health, call today.

Take Back Your Power: Handle Criticism & Feedback

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Strategies for taking it or leaving it.

As humans, we often seek feedback from others to gain insights into our behaviour, actions, and decisions. However, as a therapist, I emphasize the importance of recognizing that we have the power to decide the value of the feedback we receive. Each person's perspective is influenced by their own experiences, biases, and qualifications, making it essential to develop discernment skills to determine the usefulness of the information provided by another. Today we will explore valuable discrimination strategies to evaluate feedback effectively.

Breaking down the evaluation process by…

• considering the credentials of the speaker

• assessing the feedback for factual accuracy and absence of bias,

• reasonableness and rationale

• personal relevance

You can make informed decisions about the value of the feedback you receive and take back power to judge the usefulness of the words or comments that were just offered. Always keeping in mind, that any opinion put into the world is open to evaluation. It is either relevant and useful to you, designed to be harmful, or useless to you, and you get to decide that.

It’s like being the batter, you get to decide which pitch to take a swing at, and which pitch to let through to the back-stop. You don’t have to take a swing at everything that comes at you. You decide.

Is the opinion credible?

One key strategy for discerning the value of feedback is to consider the credentials of the speaker. Understanding the expertise, knowledge, and experience of the individual providing feedback can offer valuable context. Evaluate whether the person has relevant qualifications or expertise in the area they are providing feedback on. For example, feedback from a certified professional in a specific field carries more weight than opinions from individuals without relevant credentials. By considering the speaker's background and expertise, you can assess the credibility and reliability of the feedback provided. It’s either factual, evidence based and useful to you, or it isn’t. You may be feeling judged, but remember, you get to evaluate their credibility in return. You get to ask a speaker for their qualifications and sources - then judge their their accuracy. It isn’t a one-way street.

What evidence supports this feedback?

Another important aspect to consider is whether the feedback is factual, unbiased, reasonable, and useful to you. Information that is based on facts and evidence is more likely to be valuable than subjective opinions or baseless claims. Look for evidence supporting the feedback, such as specific examples or data. It’s ok to ask for it. Ask for the source so you can check it yourself or evaluate its credibility. Additionally, assess the presence of bias in the feedback. Biased feedback may be influenced by personal opinions, prejudices, or ulterior motives, which can distort the accuracy and usefulness of the information. Furthermore, consider whether the feedback aligns with reason and logic, considering different perspectives and potential alternative explanations. Ultimately, evaluate whether the feedback is relevant and applicable to your own personal circumstances and goals. Even information that is true, may not be useful to your long-term aspirations, but ignore it at your peril. Another useful question to ask yourself at this stage is – is this person for me or against me? What does this person gain or lose by this? What do I gain or lose if I change because of this? Criticism is rarely kind. Feedback is helpful and usually delivered in an understanding manner. They are delivered in entirely different ways. Give yourself permission to shut down meanness the moment you see the signs. Don’t take a swing at it – let it go through to the catcher. Choose your battles wisely.

It's all just information

It is important to remember that all feedback, regardless of its source, is only information. Ultimately, you have the power to decide whether the feedback is useful to you. Trust your own judgment and value-system in determining the value of the feedback. Consider the feedback as one perspective among many, and weigh it against your own knowledge, values, and aspirations. Reflect on whether the feedback resonates with your own beliefs and aligns with your goals and personal growth. By exercising this agency, you can use feedback as a valuable tool for self-improvement and decision-making, while maintaining autonomy over the value you assign to it. People have the right to voice an opinion, and you also have the right to validate it or not.

How Hypnotherapy Can Help You Handle a Critic

Hypnotherapy communicates with the subconscious mind. The subconscious mind is the home of our value system and our identity. Clients who are clear about what they value find it easier to recognise those values in others, and just as importantly, who does not embody those same values.

People with clear values naturally establish clear boundaries, and when those boundaries are breached it is obvious – this is a value breach.

When we take things personally, it’s often because our value system has been attacked. Once you are clear on your values, and what they look like out in the world, you will place more merit on people who share your values and live them. You will also place less credence on the words of those who do not operate in a reasonable or rational way. Your values are the compass that help you navigate the territory you move through.

Your values become a handbook or operation manual, and when others aren’t playing by the book – it is clear. Hypnotherapy helps the client to develop useful discrimination skills to switch off and create emotional distance from meanness in the moment. You can default automatically to your rulebook and disengage. It is a useful and empowering mental and emotional skill. You may have heard this skill referred to as “useful dissociation”.

Being clear about when it is safe to voice an opinion, or defend a boundary is also a crucial skill, but that is a blog entry in itself, and perhaps we can work through that important topic another day.

In conclusion, the value of the feedback you receive from others is determined by you. Yes, you!

You can choose to take it or leave it. When you are clear in your values, you can easily recognise a boundary breach. By employing valuable discrimination strategies, such as considering the credentials of the speaker and evaluating the feedback for factual accuracy, lack of bias, reasonableness, and personal relevance, you can make good decisions about the value of the feedback. Recognize that all feedback is only information, and it is up to you to decide if it is useful and applicable to your own growth and goals. By cultivating discernment skills, you can harness the power of feedback to enhance self-awareness and facilitate personal development and by using hypnotherapy to develop useful dissociation skills you can take back your power when you determine your boundaries are trespassed unfairly in a calm and centred way.

Author - Andrea Loughran Hypnotherapist

The Beautiful Mind Hypnotherapy

Worry: Misuse of the Imagination

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In our fast-paced and unpredictable world, worry has become an all-too-common experience for many individuals. As a hypnotherapist, I often find myself exploring the relationship between worry and the human imagination. It is an intriguing connection that highlights how our imaginative powers, when misused, can lead to excessive worry and anxiety. In this blog post, we will delve deeper into the concept of worry as the misuse of imagination, shedding light on the psychological implications and offering valuable insights for managing this pervasive emotional state.

The human imagination is a remarkable tool that allows us to envision and create possibilities, but it can also serve as a double-edged sword when it comes to worry.

The imagination can be used positively or negatively. The individual has the power to decide how to use it. However, some become stuck in pattern of negative prediction and don’t realise there are useful therapeutic tactics to break out of the negative frame.

Worry, at its core, involves imagining negative scenarios, dwelling on potential problems, and creating vivid mental pictures of worst-case outcomes. It often stems from a natural instinct to anticipate and protect ourselves from potential dangers. However, when worry becomes excessive and uncontrolled, it can consume our thoughts, drain our energy, and hinder our ability to fully engage with the present moment.

Psychologically speaking, worry is a form of cognitive distortion that can lead to distorted thinking patterns, such as catastrophizing or overestimating the likelihood of negative events.

It fuels anxiety by feeding into a loop of negative thoughts, reinforcing our fears, and generating a sense of helplessness. The misuse of imagination occurs when we allow worry to dominate our mental landscape, robbing us of the opportunity to utilize our imaginative capacities for more constructive purposes. Therefore, recognizing and redirecting the misuse of imagination is crucial for managing worry effectively.

Fortunately, there are strategies that psychologists often recommend to help individuals break free from the grip of excessive worry. One powerful approach is cognitive restructuring, which involves challenging and reframing negative thoughts associated with worry. By questioning the accuracy and validity of our worries, we can gain a more balanced perspective and reduce their intensity. Additionally, grounding techniques such as mindfulness and deep breathing exercises can help anchor us in the present moment, diverting our attention away from worrisome thoughts and fostering a greater sense of calm.

 How does Hypnotherapy shift a negative perspective?

Under hypnosis a client may develop a new thought process: becoming aware of the unrealistic prophecies, reality checking them against probability, determining what of the situation is within the client’s influence, and then connecting to inner strengths and skills. This thought pattern shifts the client’s mind from an unproductive, even fearful state, into a centred and effective mindset which leads to beneficial action. This is one of the hypnosis strategies implemented to shift a problems like anxiety, perfectionism, avoidance and procrastination.

Hypnotherapy teaches an individual to consciously shift focus away from worry and towards proactive solutions, reclaiming the power of imagination and transforming it into a force for personal growth and resilience.

In conclusion, understanding worry as the misuse of imagination offers profound insights into the psychological mechanisms underlying this common emotional state. As a strategic psychotherapist, I encourage individuals to recognize the negative impact of excessive worry and to harness their imaginative powers for more constructive purposes. By employing cognitive restructuring, grounding techniques, and connecting to internal strengths then acting, a client can become liberated from the grip of negative future projection, foster a healthier relationship with the imagination, and cultivate a greater sense of peace and well-being.

Author - Andrea Loughran Hypnotherapist

The Beautiful Mind Hypnotherapy

The Price of Confidence

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The Price of Competence: Embracing Discomfort for Meaningful Growth

In our quest for success, competence, and meaningful contribution, we often encounter discomfort along the way. However, it is through embracing these uncomfortable moments and paying the necessary price that we truly grow and make a lasting impact. In this blog, we will explore the notion of the price of competence and how it ties into courage, practice, persistence, and the willingness to be a novice. Ultimately, we will discover that passion and purpose can transcend our fear of imperfection, empowering us to become heroes of our own journeys.

Embracing Discomfort for Growth

Every meaningful endeavor comes with a price, and competence is no exception. It requires practice, persistence, and the willingness to step out of our comfort zones. Determining the level of discomfort we are prepared to accept as the price for learning and competence is crucial. It means acknowledging that discomfort is an inherent part of growth and progress. Just as a toddler falls while learning to walk, we too must be willing to stumble, make mistakes, and stand up again in our pursuit of competence. This discomfort is the currency we pay to acquire valuable skills and expertise.

Passion and Purpose as the Driving Forces

To overcome the discomfort associated with growth and competence, purpose becomes our guiding light. When our purpose is greater than our fear of imperfection, we can muster the courage to speak up passionately and contribute meaningfully. Passion trumps fear every time. By allowing our purpose to be the driving force behind our actions, we transcend the limitations of self-doubt and embrace the discomfort that comes with pushing boundaries. It is through these moments of discomfort that we emerge as heroes, making a true impact in our chosen fields.

In the pursuit of competence and meaningful contribution, there is a price to pay. It requires courage, practice, persistence, and the willingness to be a novice. Embracing discomfort becomes the catalyst for growth and learning. By allowing our end goal, by playing the long-game and putting aside short term discomfort, short term uncertainty, and acting anyway, we transcend the fear of imperfection and grow in experience - earning our confidence as we go. So, let us embrace the discomfort, pay the necessary price, and get going, knowing that on the other side of mild discomfort, lies competence and fulfillment.

 How hypnotherapy helps align you with your purpose and overcome procrastination, perfectionism and doubt.

Hypnotherapy helps clients embrace discomfort as a part of meaningful growth by facilitating a shift in their perception and response to discomfort. Through deep relaxation and accessing the subconscious mind, hypnotherapy enables individuals to explore and reframe their beliefs and emotions surrounding discomfort. It helps them develop resilience, courage, and a willingness to step out of their comfort zones. Acknowledging that the unfamiliar soon becomes familiar and addressing any underlying fears or self-limiting beliefs, hypnotherapy empowers clients to embrace discomfort as a necessary and transformative part of their growth journey, allowing them to push through barriers, expand their potential, and embrace new opportunities for meaningful personal and professional development.

Expand. Expand. Expanding now - because you can.

Author - Andrea Loughran Hypnotherapist

The Beautiful Mind Hypnotherapy

Persist Gently but Relentlessly: The Key to Conserving Energy and Achieving Long-Term Success

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In the pursuit of our goals and dreams, it's common to encounter obstacles and setbacks that can make us feel discouraged, overwhelmed or tempted to give up. However, adopting a mindset of persisting gently but relentlessly can be a game-changer. By combining perseverance with a gentle and self-compassionate approach, we can unlock powerful benefits such as conserving energy, staying focused on long-term outcomes, and nurturing our sense of self-worth and purpose.

Conserving Energy: Persisting gently but relentlessly means avoiding the trap of burning ourselves out by pushing too hard or being overly critical of our progress. It's about recognizing that progress takes time and that we need to honor our energy levels and well-being. By adopting a balanced approach, we can allocate our energy wisely, preventing exhaustion and maintaining sustainability in our efforts. This approach allows us to endure for the long haul without compromising our physical or mental health.

Focus on Long-Term Outcomes: When we persist gently but relentlessly, we prioritize long-term outcomes over short-term inconveniences or setbacks. We understand that success is not always linear and that temporary difficulties do not define our journey. By maintaining a steadfast commitment to our goals, we navigate through temporary challenges with resilience, keeping our eyes on the bigger picture. This mindset helps us maintain clarity, make informed decisions, and adapt when necessary, ensuring we remain on track towards our ultimate objectives.

Validation of Self-Worth and Purpose: Persisting gently but relentlessly fosters a sense of self-worth and purpose. By acknowledging and celebrating even the smallest victories along the way, we validate our efforts and affirm our capabilities. This self-affirmation strengthens our belief in ourselves and instils confidence, enabling us to overcome self-doubt and discouragement. Moreover, by aligning our persistence with our values and passions, we cultivate a deep sense of purpose that fuels our motivation and empowers us to persevere through obstacles, knowing that our journey serves a meaningful purpose.

Adopting the mindset of persisting gently but relentlessly is a powerful approach to achieving long-term success while nurturing our well-being and sense of purpose. By conserving our energy, staying focused on our long-term outcomes, and valuing ourselves and our journey, we create a sustainable and fulfilling path towards our goals. Remember, progress takes time, and with each step forward, even if it's a small one, we are inching closer to realizing our dreams. So, persist gently but relentlessly, and witness the transformative impact it can have on your journey to success.

How Hypnotherapy can keep you on track. 

Hypnotherapy aids clients in operating according to the principle of persisting gently but relentlessly by accessing the subconscious mind and rewiring deep-seated beliefs and thought patterns. Through guided hypnosis, individuals can develop a compassionate and determined mindset that encourages consistent effort while allowing for self-care and adaptability. By addressing any underlying fears, doubts, or self-limiting beliefs that may hinder progress, hypnotherapy helps clients cultivate gentle but consistent levels of resilience, maintain focus on their long-term goals, and persist with a gentle but unwavering determination. This approach empowers individuals to navigate challenges with grace, conserve energy, and stay committed to their journey, ultimately facilitating sustained growth and success.

Author - Andrea Loughran Hypnotherapist

The Beautiful Mind Hypnotherapy

Understanding the Power of “Enough”

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In pursuit of the “best self” we can be very hard on ourselves. This form of self-motivation can lead to overwhelm or a deep sense of dissatisfaction, and even emptiness.

Perfectionists often disregard or minimize their achievements and amplify their mistakes in ways that are quite unrealistic.

Many individuals have that berating inner voice or drill sergeant that speaks to them in ways they would never consider speaking to another. Sometimes we just don't know how to be our own cheerleader or wrongly believe that we will not be successful if we do not drive ourselves hard.

Sometimes individuals expect to be perfect not making allowances for mistakes which is such a human characteristic.

There is a difference between “perfect” and “sufficient”. There is a difference between something being unquestionably right and alright. There is a difference between “the” right time, and “a” right time.

The trick is in knowing when is “enough” or what constitutes “sufficient”.

The pursuit of perfection or always having all the answers becomes an obstacle to achievement when it stops us from being curious or learning something new, which is awkward. Learning is uncomfortable.

Hypnotherapy connects the client to their value system. Enabling the client to best decide where to place their time and focus.

A client with their values at the front of any decision is going to best place their intentions and energy.

Hypnotherapy can be a valuable tool in helping clients acknowledge what is enough and break free from the cycle of obsessing over perfection. By entering a relaxed state of hypnosis, individuals can tap into their subconscious mind and gain clarity on their values and long-term goals. This process enables them to prioritize what truly matters to them and recognize that pursuing an illusion of perfection is not aligned with their authentic desires or purpose.

During hypnotherapy sessions, clients can explore the consequences of their compulsive behaviour and the toll it takes on their energy levels. By recognizing the drain caused by the relentless pursuit of perfection, they can begin to appreciate the importance of conserving their energy and investing it in areas that bring them genuine fulfillment. In acknowledging that being correct, or being “perfect” does not mean you are beyond reproach, which is usually the subconscious foundation of perfectionism - avoiding criticism or mistakes.

Hypnotherapy helps individuals reframe their perspective and understand that striving for an unattainable ideal often results in diminishing returns.

Moreover, hypnotherapy can help clients develop the skill of discernment, allowing them to recognize when it's time to stop or rest. By accessing their subconscious mind, individuals can tap into their inner wisdom and gain insights into their own authentic limits and boundaries.

This heightened self-awareness empowers them to set realistic goals, manage their time more efficiently, and find a healthy balance between striving for improvement and recognizing when they have done enough, because there is a useful distinction between pursuing betterment (which is realistic) and pursuing perfection (which is unrealistic).

By embracing the skill of discernment, individuals can release the need for constant perfection and find contentment in their accomplishments and the journey itself.

Author - Andrea Loughran Hypnotherapist

The Beautiful Mind Hypnotherapy

The Therapeutic Tool of Unwilling Acceptance

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The concept of unwilling acceptance.

We have all heard Carl Jung’s quote, “What you resist, persists.”

Our unconscious spaces are very good at amplifying focus on what we push against. Unwilling acceptance allows the client to accept the reality of the situation without having to like it. Then resistance ceases and the client can shift focus away from the inconvenience, fear or injustice and onto aspects of the experience they can work with. Unwilling acceptance also saves the client energy because the client shifts focus onto their assets and resources much faster, which is a much more effective use of mental energy than pushing against a situation that cannot be changed.

Unwilling acceptance can be a useful strategy in certain situations as it allows individuals to navigate through challenging circumstances and ultimately find a useful way to move forward. By practicing unwilling acceptance, individuals acknowledge and recognize the reality of a situation that they may not be able to change or control. Instead of resisting or fighting against it, they choose to accept it, despite their initial reluctance or unwillingness. This strategy can be particularly helpful in situations where resistance may cause prolonged stress, frustration, or emotional turmoil.

Unwilling acceptance promotes mental resilience and adaptability.

It allows individuals to conserve their energy and focus on things they can control or change, rather than expending it on futile efforts to alter an unchangeable situation. It fosters a sense of useful surrender and letting go, freeing individuals from the burden of constantly battling against circumstances beyond their control. This approach encourages individuals to shift their perspective, seek opportunities for growth and personal development, and find inner peace by embracing the reality of the situation. Ultimately, by practicing unwilling acceptance, individuals can cultivate a sense of inner strength, emotional well-being, and a greater ability to navigate the ups and downs of life.

Using unwilling acceptance to treat panic attacks

In hypnotherapy, the strategy of unwilling acceptance can be employed to effectively treat clients who experience panic attacks. By guiding the client into a relaxed and suggestible state, the therapist creates a safe and supportive environment where the client can confront and accept the reality of their panic attacks, even if they may initially resist or fear them. Unwilling acceptance allows the client to acknowledge and validate their experience without judgment, reducing the resistance and fear associated with panic attacks. When resistance drops away, the fear that fuels the panic attack reduces significantly.

Through guided imagery, relaxation techniques, and suggestion, the therapist can help the client reframe their perception of panic attacks, promoting a sense of calm, control, and inner strength. By embracing their experience with unwilling acceptance, the client can develop coping mechanisms, explore the underlying causes of their panic attacks, and learn to manage and reduce their frequency and intensity, ultimately leading to greater emotional well-being and an improved quality of life.

It's important to note that while hypnotherapy can be a helpful adjunct to mental health, it should not replace medical advice or treatment. It's recommended to consult with healthcare professionals who specialize in mental health to develop a comprehensive approach to address your specific condition. Hypnotherapy is a very useful, natural treatment that can safely supplement medical treatment.

Author - Andrea Loughran Hypnotherapist

The Beautiful Mind Hypnotherapy

Hypnotherapy for Confidence

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Do you worry about being “average” or “not enough”? Do you compare yourself to others and keep coming up short? Do you lack bravado?

Hypnotherapy for Self Confidence is empowering. You can learn how to have a balanced and realistic approach to self assessment, that brings real and valuable insights to your personal capacity to be the most amazing version of you possible.

Author

Andrea Loughran Hypnotherapist

The Beautiful Mind Hypnotherapy

What is Strategic Psychotherapy?

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 The fundamental principle of Strategic Psychotherapy is that the person is not the problem - the problem is the problem.

Every choice we make is preceded by a thought process, often a thought process that has become automatic. The problems we are presented with are enabled by these automatic or unconscious thought processes.

A person with a problem issue is not a “bad”or weak” person - they just don’t have a stronger thought process that beats the automatic response to the punch.

For example, you know that smoking is unhealthy, but you just don’t have a stronger response in situations where you normally smoke or you know that losing your cool isn’t helpful, but there is not a more useful automatic response to intercept frustration when your patience gets tested.

The Strategic Psychotherapist is skilled at pinpointing the disempowering automated thought process and working with you to alter the unconscious process before it activates.

Strategic Psychotherapy is useful for dealing with Self Esteem, OCD, Depression, Anger or Anxiety, Procrastination & Unwanted Habits because they are automatic responses.

Author

Andrea Loughran - Hypnotherapist

The Beautiful Mind Hypnotherapy

Hypnotherapy for People Pleasers

Image by Grace Madeline

Do you often feel compromised, disrespected or undervalued? Do you have good methods for determining between being supportive and being used? Strategic psychotherapy can help you determine fair and equitable personal boundaries that build connections without compromising self respect. Being confident that you have useful boundaries makes it safer to navigate conflicts of interest when they arise. Hypnotherapy can help you become a problem solver rather than a conflict avoider.

Andrea Loughran

Clinical Hypnotherapist at The Beautiful Mind Hypnotherapy