Habits

Humans are naturally creatures of habit. Without habitual responses we would have to work out afresh what to do each time we were confronted with a situation. Our good habits serve us well, but ‘bad’ habits have unwanted consequences. A habit is a repeated action or behaviour that has been learned over time and is simply a skill by another name in that the action begins as a conscious process which eventually becomes part of our subconscious by being repeated. These habits are in effect learned patterns of behaviour. If we take the example of driving a car, when we are learning to drive, we think about everything we do, when to change gears or indicate, how to use the rear vision mirror and the controls. This is a "conscious" mind activity - we are aware of what we are doing. The more we drive the more it becomes a "subconscious" mind activity. In other words we make a habit of driving and this becomes a learned behaviour. Now when we drive a car, we don't even think about it, it just "happens" and we arrive safely at our destination, often not even remembering much about the journey. In other words, we have built a new habit - driving - to make our life easier, it's one less thing to have to think about, we just do it. In the same way that this applies to "good" habits, it is also true of "bad" habits. Both good and bad habits are established to help us rather than hinder us. Nail biting is an example of a bad habit which usually originates to help deal with nervousness or anxiety and even though we may no longer be anxious, we still subconsciously continue with the habit of biting our nails. Therefore, because habits over time become subconscious behaviour, they need to be broken at a subconscious level.

Perhaps you have found yourself doing something over and over again, almost as though you are in a trance like state and being unable to stop? Many people have a habit they wish they could stop, whether that’s nail biting, hair pulling, blushing, tics and twitching, skin picking, teeth grinding or any other habits which are causing concern. Using a combination of therapies, we can work together with your subconscious mind to effectively free you from your bad habits, releasing any associated anxiety and to create new, healthier habits.

If you would like further information and a free friendly and confidential mini consultation with no obligation, please call me on 07765 258527. If I am with a client, please leave a message and I will be happy to return your call as soon as I can.