Wanted: Self-Saboteurs for Research Interviews
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New from Mindworks Hypnotherapy: Call-In Wednesdays

Starting January 25, every Wednesday from 2 to 6 pm (PST)
Get a
Free Live Coaching Call & 30% Off if you Book a Session.

If you’re a disheartened adult whose self-defeating behavior has blocked you
from achieving your goals and dreams for far too long, call Ellen.

All calls are private and answered on a first-come first-serve basis.
Limited to half an hour, only 8 spots per Wednesday are available.

 

What are You Waiting For?

You can stop your self-sabotage
and get what you want out of life!
Call Ellen at: 310 422-9913.

 

Stop Self-Sabotage with Hypnotherapy

What is Self-Sabotage?

Any of your behavior that undermines your goals or well-being is a form of self-sabotage, whether you were conscious of it or not.

Not all self-sabotage involves counter-productive action. While smoking cigarettes, bingeing on junk food, and doing illegal drugs do, failing to act does not, yet it is also self-sabotage.  Not getting enough sleep or not studying for a test are examples.

By accepting limiting beliefs about yourself, like “I’m not good enough,” you undermine your confidence, and in turn sabotage your goals.  By indulging in destructive emotions, like unbridled rage, you waste a lot of energy which sabotages your motivation to complete your goals.

Hypnotherapy for self-sabotage is a two-phase process.  The first involves identifying how and why you self-sabotage, and what triggers it.

In the second phase, the hypnotherapist guides you into hypnosis, a safe and natural state in which you subconscious mind is highly suggestible to the positive changes you want to make.  Incorporating information from the first phase, the hypnotherapist applies techniques to overcome the bad habits, limiting beliefs and crippling emotions and replaces them with the motivation, drive, and enthusiasm to complete your goals.

Negative Effects of Self-Sabotage

The following list includes some of the negative effects that self-saboteurs exhibit.  For additional negative effects, see below.

  • Missing deadlines
  • Loss of credibility
  • Decreased self-respect
  • Feeling depressed
  • Feeling worthless and inferior
  • Sexual dysfunction
  • Giving up or quitting
  • Self-loathing
  • Isolation and loneliness

Benefits of Hypnotherapy for Self-Sabotage

The following list includes some of the benefits of hypnotherapy for self-sabotage.  For additional benefits, see below.

  • Renewed self-confidence and self-respect
  • More goals accomplished in less time
  • Higher self-esteem and greater self-love
  • Increased self-reliance
  • Meeting deadlines
  • Better time management skills
  • Restored reputation
  • Willingness to take more risks
  • Trusting your decisions
  • Improved personal and professional relationships
  • Forgiveness of self and others

Symptoms of Self-Sabotage

The following list includes some of the symptoms that self-saboteurs exhibit.  For additional symptoms, see below.

  • Overanalyzing
  • Failure to meet deadlines
  • Putting yourself down in front of others
  • Expecting to fail or lose
  • Inability to receive compliments
  • Insisting on being right
  • Intolerant of others’ mistakes
  • Behaving impulsively or obsessively

Self-Sabotage Topics of Discussion

The following list includes additional topics and greater detail on those already discussed:

 

Causes of Self-Sabotage

 

A person who chronically engages in self-sabotage has a poor self-image and low self-esteem typically resulting from how they were raised and how they developed as adults. Most commonly, self-saboteurs suffered some form of abuse to some degree as children—whether emotional (e.g., neglect or manipulation), mental (e.g., being called “stupid”), or physical (e.g., being beaten or sexually molested).

Self-image and self-esteem begin forming at a very young age in the subconscious mind. It forms in response to interactions with parents (or other primary caretakers). Young children model their parents’ (or caretakers) behavior; they learn how to act from listening to what their parents say and watching what they do. They also learn how to treat themselves from the ways their parents treat them. Whether they receive love, affection, tenderness, and concern, or anger, violence, impatience, or detachment, determines, to a great extent, how healthy or unhealthy their self-image and self-esteem initially become.

If your parents didn’t treat you lovingly, with respect for your intelligence; if you were harshly criticized and called “stupid” and told you would never amount to anything, you didn’t learn to treat yourself as intelligent and lovable. If you don’t regard yourself as valuable and deserving of good, it’s likely your parents failed to set the example. As a result, you often don’t treat yourself with honor and respect, and don’t feel worthy. Instead, you self-sabotage in any number of ways.

Unfortunately, the abuse that causes a poor self-image and low self-esteem tends to be learned behavior passed down from generation to generation. Parents who abuse were most likely abused. Children that develop low self-esteem and a poor self-image, if corrective action is not taken, perpetuate the cycle, growing up to be parents who raise children whose low self-esteem and poor self-image cause them to self-sabotage.

 

Other Negative Effects of Self-Sabotage

 

The following list includes common negative effect of self-sabotage.  If you suffer from some, many, or all of these, self-sabotage could be the reason and hypnotherapy may provide the help you need.

  • Inability to create and achieve your goals
  • Poor self-image
  • Low self-esteem
  • Feelings of emptiness and loss
  • Lack of self-reliance
  • Lack of self-confidence
  • Physical illness
  • Sexual dysfunction
  • Irritability and bad moods
  • Loss of energy
  • Social anxiety
  • Poor communication skills
  • Isolation
  • Substantial weight gain or loss
  • Difficulty achieving goals
  • Loss of purpose or motivation
  • Inability to focus or concentrate
  • Depression with suicidal thoughts
  • Harmful addictions
  • Damaged personal relationships
  • Financial problems
  • Job loss or career stagnation

 

Additional Symptoms of Self-Sabotage

 

The following list includes other common signs of self-sabotage. If you exhibit some, many, or all of these, you could likely benefit from hypnotherapy to stop sabotaging your goals, happiness, and well-being.

  • Perfectionism
  • Leaving tasks unfinished
  • Chronic lateness and poor time management
  • Sloppiness and disorganization
  • Second-guessing your decisions or inability to decide
  • Always putting others’ needs ahead of your own
  • Putting yourself down in front of others
  • Shirking responsibilities
  • Procrastinating
  • Giving up on goals
  • Inflicting physical harm on yourself (from biting your nails to self-mutilation or worse)
  • Chronic dissatisfaction with your appearance
  • Comparing yourself unfavorably to others
  • Obsessive negative self-talk
  • Selling yourself short or under achieving
  • Overanalyzing
  • Failure to meet deadlines
  • Putting yourself down in front of others
  • Expecting to fail or lose
  • Inability to receive compliments
  • Insisting on being right
  • Intolerant of others’ mistakes
  • Behaving impulsively

 

Overcoming Self-Sabotage Using Hypnosis

 

Hypnotherapy is a relaxing, natural, safe, and brief-term form of therapy. In hypnosis, your subconscious mind, where positive change develops, is directly and immediately accessible; it is also highly suggestible to positive thoughts, emotions, and feelings elicited that support and impel constructive action to achieve your goals.

Clinical hypnosis to end self-sabotage involves the use of various tools and techniques to create positive changes in attitudes and beliefs about the self, promoting a healthy self-image and increased self-respect. As a result, new patterns of constructive thinking and action also emerge, provided the client does their part by practicing with the tools and techniques in between sessions.

The ideal hypnotherapy client is someone who really wants to improve their life, believes that positive change is possible, and is willing to do what it takes.  Getting results requires being open to the hypnotherapeutic process and using the tools and techniques provided.

The first step in the process is to gain understanding of the client’s problems and goals.   I engage them in cognitive inquiry to determine what their goals and issues are, and to assess whether they have the appropriate motivation and acceptance. Next I induce deep relaxation and inward focus. This calms their emotions, diverts conscious thought, and allows access to their subconscious mind. Then I present a variety of hypnotic suggestions, visualizations, and other techniques that nourish and support development of the positive attitudes, feelings, beliefs, and actions necessary to replace self-sabotage with self-empowerment.

From a digital recording of the hypnosis portion of each session, I provide the client with hypnotic reinforcement in the form of an audio recording for use in between sessions. The clients who get the quickest and best results are those who use these reinforcements.

 

Hypnotherapy Treatment Plan to Overcome Self-Sabotage

 

The specific treatment plan to end self-sabotage must be customized to each individual client’s needs, history, and issues. There is no “one plan fits all.” The general approach I take to each case, however, is outlined below.

  1. Identify components of self-sabotage
    • Specific goals
    • Forms of self-sabotage
    • Triggers
    • Underlying motivation
    • Problem areas
    • History/Causes
    • Symptoms
    • Negative effects
  2. Set initial goals
  3. Develop a hypnotherapeutic strategy with specific tools and techniques
  4. Induce self-empowerment hypnosis
  5. Track progress
  6. Set new goals
  7. Revise strategy to accommodate new goals
  8. Implement revised strategy
  9. Repeat steps 5 through 9 as needed

 

Hypnosis Tools and Techniques to Stop Self-Sabotage

 

The following list includes some of the tools and techniques I use in hypnotherapy to help clients who self-sabotage:

  • Deep Diaphragmatic Focused Breathing
  • Progressive Relaxation
  • Post-Hypnotic Suggestion
  • Self-Esteem Visualization
  • Interactive Self-Esteem Building
  • Empowerment Assertions
  • Emotional Freedom Technique
  • Confidence Building
  • Guided Imagery
  • Inner Child Work
  • Resource State Creation
  • Negative Trigger Desensitization
  • Positive Memory Revival
  • Positive Trigger Association
  • Negative Self-Talk Redirection
  • Positive Suggestions for Self-Empowerment
  • Establishing Replacement Behavior

 

Benefits Derived from Hypnotherapy for Self-Sabotage

 

The following list includes other common benefits clients attain:

  • Achievement of goals
  • Renewed trust
  • Eagerness to take on more
  • Peace and calm
  • Pride in their accomplishment
  • Renewed self-confidence
  • Improved relationship with self
  • Attaining desired weight
  • Increased motivation to pursue more goals
  • Healthier self-esteem
  • Renewed vitality and energy
  • Healing aspects of their inner child
  • Striving for excellence not perfection
  • Self-perception as a problem-solver
  • Ability to commit and persevere
  • Reframing challenges as opportunities
  • Replacing negative self-talk with positive affirmations