This is where solution-focused hypnosis becomes a powerful tool. Picture your prefrontal cortex as the calm, bespectacled CEO of your mind. Perched behind your forehead, this “executive center” is responsible for:

• Decision-making (e.g., “Should I react or pause?”),
• Emotional regulation (such as taming anger before a meeting),
• Focus (for instance, ignoring distractions to finish this article).

However, here’s the catch: stress significantly weakens its power because the executive centre is sidelined. As a result, thinking clearly becomes difficult when you’re overwhelmed. That’s your prefrontal cortex getting hijacked by the emotional part of the brain.

However, by guiding you into a deeply relaxed state, it helps restore balance to your prefrontal cortex, empowering it to function optimally once again. Through relaxation and positive imagery, hypnosis creates space for clarity, enabling better decision-making, emotional regulation, and focus—even in the face of stress.

Between the conscious and subconscious mind exists a regulatory mechanism known as the critical factor, which functions as a gatekeeper of beliefs and perceptions. This is the Reticular Activating System (RAS), which is a network of neurons in the brainstem. It acts as the brain’s built-in filter, selectively allowing information to reach our conscious awareness while keeping the rest in the background. It plays a vital role in shaping our perceptions and reinforcing our beliefs by directing attention toward what aligns with our existing mindset. Acting as the gatekeeper between the conscious and subconscious mind, the RAS ensures that what we focus on—whether opportunities, challenges, or patterns—becomes the reality we experience.

This psychological barrier often resists positive change, favouring familiar thought patterns over new, potentially beneficial ideas. In doing so, it inadvertently hinders the assimilation of empowering beliefs—such as the notion that one is capable—by dismissing them in favour of established cognitive frameworks. As a result, individuals may struggle to adopt constructive perspectives that conflict with preexisting self-perceptions.

Fundamentally, the critical factor serves to preserve continuity between old and new beliefs, frequently obstructing those that challenge deeply ingrained convictions, such as feelings of unworthiness. For instance, acting like a bouncer denying entry, blocking new beliefs that clash with the old ones.

This is where solution-focused hypnosis shines because by guiding clients into a deeply relaxed state, achieves several benefits:

• It bypasses the critical factor.
• It plants new beliefs directly into the subconscious (e.g., “I am resilient”).
• It reinforces flexibility through metaphors, such as your “trees dancing to the winds of change.”

For instance, consider the real-world proof: a client with public speaking anxiety rewired her subconscious mind in just 4 sessions, eventually delivering a keynote speech confidently.

Beneath the subconscious lies the unconscious mind—a vault holding childhood memories and primal instincts. This explains why:

• A song sparks nostalgia (even when you can’t pinpoint the reason),
• Trauma responses feel automatic and deeply ingrained.

Fortunately, there’s a bright side: your brain is plastic, capable of rewiring itself and adapting. Visualization, like the techniques Olympic athletes use, actively reshapes neural pathways—whether the experience is “real” or imagined.

Take Michael Phelps, for example. He relied on visualization to mentally rehearse scenarios and prepare for challenges. This method strengthened his motor skills, boosted his confidence, and even “programmed” his nervous system for peak performance. The mind truly is a remarkable tool for transformation!

Instead of dissecting problems, we:
✅ Focus on solutions (What do you want more of?),
✅ Leverage neuroplasticity through trance and positive imagery,
✅ Boost “feel-good” chemicals (dopamine, serotonin) via small wins.

If you’re tired of:

• Overthinking simple decisions (thanks to an overwhelmed prefrontal cortex),
• Feeling stuck in old patterns (curse you, critical factor!),
• Sabotaging your own progress (due to the silent whispers of the unconscious mind)…

Let’s chat. Book a free 50-minute consultation to explore how solution-focused hypnosis can help you:

Unlock resilience you didn’t know you had.

Quiet your inner critic,

Rewrite self-sabotaging scripts.