“Where Is My Subconscious Mind?” Clinical Hypnotherapy Terms Explained

If you’ve ever heard terms like ‘subconscious mind’ in the context of Clinical Hypnotherapy, you might wonder what it means and where this elusive part of the mind is located. I often explain the workings of the subconscious mind to clients as part of demystifying the hypnotherapy process. Understanding these concepts can help you see how hypnotherapy works to create positive, lasting change.

The Subconscious Mind: What Is It?

The subconscious mind is not a physical structure in the brain. Instead, it’s a concept used to describe the parts of your mind that operate below the level of conscious awareness. Think of it as a vast storage system for your beliefs, emotions, habits, and memories.

While your conscious mind handles active thinking, decision-making, and logic, the subconscious mind runs the show behind the scenes. It controls automatic processes like breathing, heart rate, and reflexes, but it also influences behaviour, reactions, and perceptions based on deeply ingrained patterns.

For example, when you drive a familiar route without consciously thinking about it or respond emotionally to a situation before realising why, that’s your subconscious mind at work.

Where Is the Subconscious Mind "Located"?

Although the subconscious isn’t a specific place in the brain, its functions are thought to be distributed across various regions:

• The limbic system, which governs emotions and memory.

• The autonomic nervous system, which handles automatic bodily functions.

• Neural networks that encode habits and learned behaviours.

In hypnotherapy, the term ‘subconscious mind’ is a simplified, practical way to describe this intricate system that shapes your thoughts, feelings, and actions.

How the subconscious mind forms patterns and beliefs

The subconscious mind plays a crucial role in shaping our behaviours, thoughts, and beliefs by forming patterns based on past experiences, emotions, and learned responses. From an early age, we absorb information from our environment—family, culture, media—and our brains begin to categorise and store this data. These early experiences, particularly during childhood, influence how we interpret the world and react to situations.

Patterns are created as the subconscious mind links repeated experiences with specific emotional reactions. For example, if a child experiences a traumatic event, their subconscious might begin to associate similar situations or feelings with fear or anxiety, even if the present situation doesn’t warrant such a response. Over time, these subconscious patterns solidify into core beliefs about ourselves, others, and the world around us.

These beliefs often become automatic and are not readily questioned by the conscious mind. For instance, someone who grows up hearing negative comments about how they look might develop a belief that they are unattractive, which can affect their self esteem and interpersonal relationships in adulthood.

However, because the subconscious mind is flexible, these patterns can be reshaped with the experienced guidance of a Clinical Hypnotherapist. Understanding how the subconscious forms these patterns is key to overcoming limiting beliefs and changing behaviours.

Why Is the Subconscious Mind Important in Hypnotherapy?

The subconscious mind is where habits, beliefs, and automatic reactions reside. It operates much like a computer program, running learned behaviours and emotional responses based on past experiences.

This makes it incredibly powerful—but also challenging to change through conscious effort alone. For example, even if you consciously decide to quit smoking, your subconscious mind might resist because it has learnt to associate smoking with stress relief or comfort. Until these deep-set beliefs are explored and redefined, the effort to quit smoking will rely on willpower alone, and most of us will have experienced how exhausting that can be to maintain over time!

Hypnotherapy works by bypassing the critical, analytical part of your conscious mind to directly engage the subconscious. In this state, the mind is more receptive to beneficial suggestions, making it easier to rewrite unhelpful patterns and embrace new, more helpful behaviours.

The Subconscious Path to Change

While the subconscious mind isn’t a tangible part of the brain, its influence is undeniable, and tapping into it unlocks the potential for lasting growth and rapid transformation. By understanding its role in shaping thoughts, emotions, and behaviours, you can better appreciate how Clinical Hypnotherapy works to create meaningful change.

The Science of Suggestibility - How Hypnosis Affects the Brain

Hypnosis may seems like a mysterious process, but at its core, it’s a state of highly focused attention and increased suggestibility. Clinical Hypnotherapy harnesses this natural state, and utilises it alongside Strategic Psychotherapy to help people make positive changes, from overcoming phobias to managing chronic pain. But what exactly happens in the brain during hypnosis, and why are some people more responsive to hypnotic suggestions than others? Let's dive into the science of suggestibility and explore how hypnosis affects the brain.

But just before we do, it’s worth noting that research on hypnosis is not just a recent trend. The Stanford University School of Medicine has conducted a Laboratory of Hypnosis Research since the 1950’s, now led by Dr David Spiegel, and many esteemed scientists and researchers have explored the subject, producing robust, peer reviewed evidence of the efficacy of hypnosis as a clinical tool.

Understanding Suggestibility

Suggestibility is the degree to which a person is open to accepting and acting on suggestions. It’s a crucial part of hypnotherapy, as it allows individuals to engage deeply with the process and make meaningful changes. While all of us experience varying levels of suggestibility daily, hypnosis intentionally enhances this state to create therapeutic benefits.

During hypnosis, suggestibility increases because the brain enters a state of deep focus and reduced critical judgement. This isn’t about control or manipulation but rather about creating a receptive mental environment where positive suggestions can take root more easily. This enhanced state allows for significant therapeutic benefits, as the mind becomes more open to exploring and addressing underlying issues.

The Brain on Hypnosis

Modern neuroscience has given us a window into what’s happening in the brain during hypnosis. Studies using brain imaging techniques, like MRI and EEG, reveal that hypnosis alters activity in several key brain regions involved in focus, self-awareness, and perception.

One of the most important areas affected during hypnosis is the anterior cingulate cortex. This part of the brain helps regulate attention and processes conflicting thoughts or information. Under hypnosis, this region becomes more active, allowing individuals to focus intensely on specific suggestions or ideas presented by the hypnotherapist. This intense focus is what enables people to, for instance, perceive pain differently or to feel more calm and relaxed.

Another key area is the default mode network (DMN), a set of brain regions (dorsal medial prefrontal cortex, posterior cingulate cortex, precuneus and angular gyrus) that work together when the mind is at rest or in a self-reflective state. In hypnosis, the DMN is less active, meaning the mind becomes less engaged in self-criticism or excessive internal dialogue. This reduction in self-focus allows individuals to set aside doubts, fears, or ingrained mental barriers, making them more open to suggestions that align with their goals.

Additionally, the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, responsible for planning and decision-making, interacts more closely with the regions involved in emotional processing, like the amygdala, during hypnosis. This stronger link means that under hypnosis, emotional responses can be guided by logical or positive suggestions, making it possible to reshape unhelpful emotional reactions or automatic responses.

Why Are Some People More Hypnotisable Than Others?

Suggestibility varies from person to person, and research shows that certain personality traits, such as openness to experience, are associated with higher hypnotisability. People who are naturally imaginative, emotionally aware, and open-minded are often more responsive to hypnosis. However, even if someone isn’t highly suggestible, most people still benefit from hypnotherapy through regular practice, as it enhances focus and increases receptivity over time.

Hypnosis as a Tool for Change

Hypnosis isn’t magic; it’s a structured therapeutic process backed by science. Through understanding how hypnosis affects the brain, clinical hypnotherapists can help clients leverage suggestibility to achieve their therapeutic goals. Whether it’s managing stress, breaking unwanted habits, or finding relief from pain, hypnosis taps into the brain’s ability to rewire itself by working directly with subconscious beliefs and responses.

In summary, the science of suggestibility shows us that hypnosis is a powerful tool for positive change. By shifting the brain into a focused and receptive state, hypnosis makes it possible to reach goals that may seem out of reach in ordinary waking life. Far from being about mind control, clinical hypnotherapy empowers individuals to harness the full potential of their own minds, with scientifically backed techniques that make lasting transformation possible.