The Pre Induction Interview 1

Hello, I'm _. I'd like to spend a few moments with you before your session to talk a little bit about hypnosis, perhaps answer some of the questions you may have on your mind. This will save us a lot of time when your session actually begins. You have a clipboard and a piece of paper, please write down any questions you have so we can discuss them when I come into the office.

Now for you to understand how hypnosis works, it is very important for you to understand how your mind works. You know we never think about how our mind works. We basically say to ourselves, if we think about it, I think so I exist and we leave it go at that. But you know we really have three very separate and very distinct minds. They do different things and they have a hard time inter-relating and communicating with each other.

First we have the conscious mind. Well, that's where we are right now. Below that level of awareness, we have something called the subconscious mind. And yet there is a still deeper part of us, the unconscious mind. Well, for the reason you are here today, we can eliminate the unconscious mind. Basically, that is a part of us that does two things. First, it controls the strength or weakness of immune system and, secondly, it controls the functions, the automatic body functions, such as; our heart beating, our eyes blinking and things on this order. We don't have to worry about these today, so let's just forget about that part of us for now.

The conscious mind is where we spend most of our time. I want you to understand that it basically only does four things and no more. The first thing it does, it analyzes. What is that? Well, that is the part of us that looks at problems, analyzes them, figures a way to solve those particular problems bothering us at the moment. It is also the part of us that makes the hundreds of decisions we have to make just to get through an average day, decisions we think are automatic; but in fact, are not. Things like, "Should I open the door?" "Should I turn the water on?" "Should I tie my shoes?" Well, we think those are automatic functions, but we must make a decision as to whether or not we want to do these things.

Now, the second part of the conscious mind is a part that starts to get us into a little trouble sometimes. We call this the rational part of our conscious mind. This part of us must give us a reason why we behave in any particular fashion. You see if we don't have a reason why we do the things that we do, we become anxious, nervous, frustrated and if it goes on long enough, it can lead to serious mental illness. The mental hospitals, for example, are full of people who do things and they don't know why they do them. The only problem with the reason the rational mind may give us on why we behave in any particular fashion is number one, it is never original. For example, a smoker says he smokes because it calms him, makes him feel relaxed, gives him time to pause and gather his thoughts. An overweight person will say, I'm over weight because I eat when I'm bored, I eat when I'm nervous or I have a glandular problem. The problem with this reason is, it is never original. Before the smoker developed his habit, he heard other people that smoked say, "I smoke because it makes me feel calm and relaxed." Or he heard an over weight person say, "I'm just over weight because I eat when I'm nervous."

The problem with this is, we understand and know the reason why people are smokers and overweight. Generally, smokers start because of their need for security. They want to belong to another gang of friends, usually in their younger years, somewhere between twelve and twenty. Security is a basic need for all human beings. We generally get all the security we need when we grow up in a nice family. But usually at the age of twelve or thirteen, in that area, our parents don't seem as smart as they use to be, so we shut off our ability to gain security from those individuals and we want that security by being part of a group of kids at school. Some of them smoke, some of them don't.

If we feel that we don't belong to this particular group, because our subconscious mind is a very interesting part of us, it must protect us against danger and not getting the necessary security we need is a definite danger to us. Frequently it will say smokers are accepted and secure. When that happens, the next time someone offers you a cigarette and you take it, immediately you feel like you are part of this group and your security level goes up. That is why people start smoking. It has nothing to do with being calm or relaxed. So you must understand that the reason the rational mind gives us for why we behave in a particular fashion is never original and most always incorrect! You don't start smoking because it makes you feel calm, you start when you need security!

Now, the next part of the conscious mind is what we call will power. Now, we are all familiar with will power. You might say, "I'm going to put down this pack of cigarettes and nothing on God's earth will make me start smoking again." Well, we all know how long that lasts! You know if you go on a diet how long that lasts. Just until willpower weakens and then the old habit pattern comes back again. The last part of the conscious mind is what we call working memory. That's the memory we need everyday. How do I find my way to work? What's my husband or wife's name? What are my children's names? What is my phone number? Things on this order. The memory we need just to get through an average day. Now this is all that the conscious mind does. It does nothing else. I want you to think of this part of your mind. For example, if you've ever seen that show on TV called Star Trek, I'm sure you are familiar with the character called Spock. Spock is a very logical and analytical person. So our conscious mind, if you will, we call our Spock mind. Very logical and very analytical and frequently wrong.

Now, where the REAL you, me and everyone else lives is in the level below the conscious called the subconscious mind. The subconscious mind is awesomely powerful. It can make you into anything you would like to be. Rich and famous, thin, happy or sad, it is the real us. To understand how the subconscious mind works, you need to understand that it is very much like a computer and it operates just like a computer operates. You know that if you go out and buy a computer, put it on your desk and ask it a question, it will not be able to answer you. The reason is, at that point the computer has no programming in it whatsoever. Now a computer can only operate based on the programming that is placed in it and it must operate on that programming, it has no choice. You know that if you change the programming in a computer that you buy at a store, it no longer can operate on the old programming and it must operate on the new programming information that has been placed into it. Well, this is the way our subconscious mind works. It is a computer. It functions on the same rules and regulations as an electronic one does, only it is much more powerful. We program our computer every day of our lives through our life experiences. When we are born, our computers are basically unprogrammed, there is a little bit of programming in it, but not much. Everyday we add programming to our internal computer. Now, the primary rule of our computer is this. It must, underline, exclamation point, make us into the type of person that it perceives us to be based on all the programming that has been placed into it and will continue to be placed into it until we die.