Programming or Educating
One cannot miss when looking for hypnosis professionals that there is a myriad of descriptions as to what a practitioner will do with you in your sessions. I have noted lately the more frequent use of the word “programming”. Now for some this has a resonance with things like Neuro Linguistic Programming, but for others it is, in my opinion, trying to make the therapeutic process sexy in some way.
The mind is not a computer, though the analogy is used often enough. The mind does not need programming or in the case of therapy, re-programming. This is a very technician way of looking at the therapeutic relationship and dynamic. In my view, speaking as a psychotherapist, is denigrating towards the client and rather de-humanising.
I have always taken the view that much of therapy is psycho-educational. What I mean is that we all have the ability to learn perfectly, even if we learn imperfect lessons. Through therapy and reflection a person can unlearn negative behaviours and thoughts and learn more adaptive and helpful ways of thinking and being.
It may not sound sexy, but in a health therapeutic relationship there are many things which occur one of which is an environment of safety where a person can explore new ways of thinking and being. Hang on, that actually sounds pretty good to me, as it does to my clients.
