BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU ASK FOR!

I was reading a blog the other day about how our language shapes our reality.

I don’t take credit for the blog, but it did get me thinking about a statement I say regularly in my clinic, which is, “Listen to your language”.

Language plays an integral role in how we perceive our emotions and experiences, in fact, we might go as far as to say, our language shapes the nature of the emotion being felt at the time. For example, Self-criticism relates strongly with depression and anxiety.

In my clinic it’s important for me to point out when clients use negative language, often it is a sub conscious default, they are not even aware they are doing it. I have a saying, “Acknowledge and Change”. We don’t want people to give negative language energy but recognising your emotions (Acknowledge) and learning to manage them (Change), is one of the most important skills you can have.

My clients are often amazed at how, just by beginning to notice their language and how they feel, it becomes easier to adjust their behaviour. This is generally the beginning of them taking back control. After all we know its not the event in our life that’s the problem, it’s the way we respond to it.

Steve De Shazzer and Insoo Kimberg, the co-founders of Solution Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT) set out ten tenants that SFBT stood by, one of my favourites was, “If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you always got, so do something different! Like many quotes, this one is simple yet powerful, think about it, if you want something different out of your life you must put something different into it, otherwise how do you expect things to change.  

As a Solution Focused Hypnotherapist, I use a framework of questions that concentrates on helping clients to move towards the future that they want, and to learn what can be done differently. This approach sees the client as the expert in their own life. With this shift in perspective clients are guided in the direction of hope and optimism, which often leads them to a path of positive change.