People can unconsciously engage in behaviour that is consistent with their expectations.
James Braid
Our minds work a little like vision: a spotlight of attention shines on different mental processes, but not all are equally visible. Some are reflective (clear and deliberate, like noticing you feel hot), others are translucent (automatic thoughts or impulses that appear without warning), and some are opaque (hidden beliefs that shape us without our immediate awareness). In Cognitive Behavioural Hypnotherapy, focused attention and imagery help bring these processes into view, so unhelpful patterns can be reshaped into more supportive ones — allowing thoughts and feelings to guide rather than control us.
If you’d like a deeper look at how this works, here’s the full explanation…
Understanding Conscious and Unconscious Processes
Psychologists and hypnotists have long debated how the conscious and unconscious mind interact. To make sense of these ideas, I use a simple metaphor drawn from vision: the way we see our environment through light and reflection. In this model, our attention works like a spotlight, revealing different layers of our mental world.
I group these processes into three categories: Reflective, Translucent, and Opaque.
1. Reflective Processes
These are the easiest to notice. They reflect our spotlight of attention clearly and fully.
- Example: “I feel hot right now. The heat is intense, and I’m sweating.”Here, you can see what is happening, how it feels, and when it occurs.
2. Translucent Processes
These are partly visible: you notice them happening, but not what triggered them.
- Example: An involuntary thought pops up — “What if I yelled at my boss?” — even though you didn’t choose to think it.
- Example: An impulse, such as storming out of a room in anger. You recognise it, but can’t fully control or explain it in the moment.
Some thoughts are reflective (deliberately planned: “I’ll think about my next holiday”), but many are translucent (automatic, uninvited, and outside voluntary control).
3. Opaque Processes
These remain hidden from direct view. We know they exist only by their effects.
- Example: Your core belief system shaping how you react to life events. You may not see the belief in action, but you can deduce its influence afterwards by reflecting on your behaviour and emotions.
Bringing It Together
When our spotlight of attention looks outward, we build awareness of the world around us. When we turn it inward, we build awareness of sensations, thoughts, and feelings. Some are clear and easy to grasp, while others are only partly visible or entirely hidden.
How CBH helps
In Cognitive Behavioural Hypnotherapy, focused attention and imagery (known as imaginal absorption) can help reshape unhelpful patterns in these processes. This allows us to change our relationship with negative thoughts and feelings — so they guide us, rather than define us — and move toward a happier, more satisfying life.
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