Your CCF in Action
By: Elaina Curran, HPD, DSFH, CNHCreg, AfSFHreg
Over the course of human evolution, the brain has adapted modes of protection that help in our survival. Emotions that we would now consider negative used to be extremely useful in keeping Primitive Man safe in an undoubtedly dangerous environment. Anger increased strength, stress added that extra boost to run away and kept our ancestors “on their toes”. What we call depression today, reduced activity in order to conserve energy. There is another safety mechanism adapted by the brain called the Conscious Critical Faculty (CCF). The CCF acts like a computer’s firewall and filters out any incoming information that contradicts the beliefs we have come to adopt, rightly or wrongly, since birth.
Beliefs can be very powerful. Any new information that does not match up with the thoughts we have adopted, will simply be rejected as worthless, inaccurate or as “fake news”, as Donald Trump likes to call it. If we had to make changes to some strongly-held beliefs, that might mean having to reassess all of one’s beliefs and perceptions and why we think that way. Change is stressful and not always easy…for some more than others. The CCF ensures the status quo. It gives us balance and lets us get on with our daily lives. That’s the CCF in action.
The CCF is not confined to our perceptions of the world the around us. Our patterns of belief also include how we perceive ourselves. If you see yourself as unattractive, this is just as real and set in your brain as the belief that gravity holds us to the surface of the planet. If a friend or family member tells you that you are beautiful, your CCF kicks in and filters out that statement because it does not match how you view yourself. If you believe that you will never lose weight, or that you will never be able to give up smoking, you will likely not succeed. Relying on sheer will power might get you started on your path to change, but the effort might be overshadowed by those firmly set belief patterns, thus creating the expectation of failure. Henry Ford once said “Whether you think you can or think you can’t, you’re probably right”.
This is where clinical hypnosis can be beneficial. It can bypass the CCF and the negative, limited conscious mind, allowing positive suggestions, as developed between you and your hypnotherapist, to be accepted by your non-critical subconscious mind.
The subconscious will only accept new ideas and new patterns of belief that are beneficial to, required by or acceptable to an individual. Clinical hypnotherapy will only focus on positive change and encourage the mind to move away from any limiting, unhelpful beliefs and negative thought patterns.
Hypnotherapy can help you overcome those self-defeating patterns that are being held in check by the CCF and allow you to achieve your full potential.
