I know that many of you reading this have heard me discuss and explain this before, but when I first trained as a hypnotherapist back in 1997, I was taught that hypnosis was all about accessing the subconscious mind, duly bypassing the conscious mind, and delivering suggestions to that subconscious mind.

I invested in that notion. I explained it to my clinical patients and I then went on to write a book on the subject. That book 'The Secrets of Self-Hypnosis; Harnessing the Power of your Subconscious mind' was a bestseller and helped propel my career back in 2004.

Among many things that I read shortly after writing this book, was a wonderful quote that I was sent by someone who had bought that book; it is over 100 years ago, by philosopher and psychologist William James, he had this to say about the subconscious mind:

“The sovereign means for believing what one likes in psychology and of turning what might become a science into a tumbling ground for whimsies.”

I felt hurt.

Today, I am embarrassed by that part of the book. I rewrote my book a number of years later and it forms the basis of the protocol that we used in the psychology labs at Bournemouth University and has since been informed by my published peer reviewed academic papers.

Today, the majority of cognitive psychologists and neuroscientists dispute the concept of dualism, that of the mind being distinct to the brain.  There is no centre of consciousness, no centre of decision-making.  It made for some initial discomfort as reality bit me. My book was showing people how to communicate with their unconscious mind that I had just found out did not exist.

I’m not the only one uncomfortable about the reality and evidence regarding it. Suggesting that there is no such thing as an independent subconscious mind, wrankles with and flaws the popular Ericksonian and Elman models of hypnosis and the mind.

So on that subject, today I shared a video where I discuss, explain and question this notion of dualism:

Watch Full Video Here: Is The Mind Separate to the Body? 
 

It is another layer to the big debate and discussion that I have shared often and put into a video back in 2018. You see, so many individuals are taught the notion of the conscious and unconscious/subconscious mind like it is a fact or a truth, yet if you examine the well designed randomised controlled trial that support the field of hypnosis, none refer to such a thing as a subconscious or unconscious mind. None attribute results as anything to do with an unconscious or subconscious mind. There is no scientific proof that such a thing exists and even if it did, it has nothing to do with hypnosis, according to the evidence. Yet the notion continues to be taught by hypnotherapy training schools and colleges as if it is a fact.

"If you examine the depths of research in the field of hypnosis over the last century, from major contributors such and Hull and White in the 1930s and 1940s, Hilgard in the 1950s, Barber and Arne in the 1960s, those engaged in the theory wars of the 1970s such as Barber and SPanos and all the way up to the 1990s with authors such as Kirsch, Lynn, McConkey and Sheehan - none of them discussed the unconscious mind or suggest that hypnosis is a means for accessing the subconscious mind. It is not even mentioned."

- Eason, A (2013) The Science of Self-Hypnosis.

Watch Full Video Here: The Conscious and Unconscious: Is It Time Hypnotherapists Stopped Explaining the Mind This Way?
 

Back in 2010 I wrote an article questioning...

Read Full Article Here: Is There Such a Thing As An Unconscious Mind In Hypnosis? 
 

Later that same year, I raised the question about the subconscious mind being some sort of benevolent force that resides within us all....

Read Full Article Here: Are Your Gut Feelings Actually An All Seeing Eye? A Demi God Of Some Sort? 

A few years later, I also discussed how cognitive biases were also weakening the position of those who supported the notion of an unconscious mind.....

Read Full Article Here: Another Scientific Reason For Hypnotherapists to Abandon the Myth of the Unconscious Mind – Cognitive Bias.
 

I brought a number of these points together in an interview I gave for the NCH a couple of years ago too...

Watch Full Video Here: Adam Eason on Redefining Hypnosis: Beyond Misperceptions to Mastery.
 

I have written much more and added much more to the discussion and debate throughout the years in a variety of other articles and videos and in lectures and classes, but I think the above gives the main points I am keen to offer up.

Please note, however it may appear, I am not necessarily trying to get you to believe in one position or another. I am simply hoping you'll open your mind to a range of other possibilities and know, and hopefully understand that if the hypnosis and hypnotherapy field is to develop and grow ethically and professionally, then we do need to question our own positions and challenge some of the received wisdom that exists out there - but importantly do our best to see both sides of a debate, discussion and philosophy.

I hope you've found this stimulating and interesting.

Want a deep dive stepping out of the echo chamber?

Read these: My Top Ten Important Articles. 
 

Watch These: Video Playlist of Me Destroying Common Hypnosis Myths.