I Just Can’t Do It!

“I Just Can’t Do It,” is one of the most common statements that hypnotists hear from people who seek their services. Our world is filled with all kinds of quick fixes for our many complaints and illnesses, many of which involve ingesting something or other. It could be a drug or a vitamin filled candy bar, or some other concoction guaranteed to give you instant results. I have nothing at all against any of the above (except for the ones loaded with caffeine and sugar) but what I’ve found is that most, if not all of them don’t address the cause of whatever complaint a person has.

Our culture has come to depend extremely heavily on external fixes. In a way this is okay since many things can be addressed with something from outside. On the extremely rare occasion when I have a low-grade headache for instance I still take a couple of Tylenol; they work just fine. Or if I feel tired I will drink a lot of water and remember to eat, which I sometimes forget to do. So we do benefit from external solutions. On the other hand perhaps there is a bit too much dependence on looking for an external fix when what’s really needed is internal change.

For instance, if you’re told from a very early age that there’s something wrong with you and this idea is deep in the psyche, how do you suppose that this base information is going to manifest in your everyday life? It could and will come out in all sorts of ways, depending on your personality, skills and talents. But it will certainly be a hindrance in some way. And it’s probably the single most common cause that hypnotists routinely discover.

We don’t however, have magical solutions. What hypnosis does is help the person we’re working with discover their own inner power, their own determination to change the inner dialogue and create a new, more reasonable, inner story. We’re not replacing good solid therapy either. Often both are useful; talk therapy to help a person begin to understand their inner dialogue, and a few hypnosis sessions to make the shifts solid.

Just for a moment think of how you think of yourself. Step back a bit and notice, as if you were another person, who you believe yourself to be. What limitations have you accepted as unchangeable? What abilities do you have that you are ignoring? No one else needs to know what you’re contemplating. Only you know your inner mind. Sometimes these inner reflections could be a bit embarrassing, but – so what! Only you need to know. The next step then is, “Okay, I see it, now what do I do about it, and how do I fix it?” The traditional answer is to seek someone skilled in helping you process this new information. It could be a hypnotist or a therapist or a counselor or simply a friend who you trust. Whomever it is, go ahead. Courage is the key element in change.