The 3 P’s

The 3 P’s

No, it’s not an acronym for a carefully selected group of swear words. Although a lot can be said to a carefully placed ‘F’ bomb when you’ve trapped your thumb in the car door.

No, these 3 P’s are the cornerstone of Solution Focused Hypnotherapy.

Positive action, Positive interaction, Positive thought. 

Looking back a few thousand years of our evolution gives us clues as to how we have developed into who we are today.  The cavemen realised they worked better as a tribe rather than individuals, when they hunted together they were more successful, this enabled them to form small communities, this helped to keep them safe, gave them nourishment, enabled them to reproduce so the tribe was more successful.  While all this evolution was going on the brain was releasing important neurotransmitters to enable them to thrive.  

It was releasing Serotonin that helped them to feel successful, happy, gave them the feeling of pride and respect.

Dopamine gave them a good feeling, well done on a successful hunt, lighting the fire, sharing the meal, helped to motivate them to get rewards, aided memory and attention levels.

Oxytocin gave them the warm fuzzy feeling, of being loved, enjoying companionship and social bonding,

Endorphins are the euphoria feelings, general well-being and pain relief, helps to alleviate anxiety. 

Thankfully we don’t have to go out and hunt for food or are generally not in any imminent danger.  We do have to operate within these positive parameters like early man. We do have to be active in a positive way, interact in a positive way, and think in a positive way. Because when we do we produce patterns in the brain that give us that constant flow of neurotransmitters. When we have that constant flow of neurotransmitters, in particular Serotonin  we are happy, brave, coping folk.  Life still throws us a curveball now and again and we experience highs and lows of life but we are better able to deal with them, without the extremes of anxiety, anger, depression or a combination of all three.

So let’s break it down a little further, 

Positive Action, now it’s great if you can run a Marathon or know the winning numbers to the National Lottery. But looking at each of these are small steps, really small steps, that then lead to the bigger achievements. You’ve got to be able to run to the next lamp post before you can even begin a 26 mile run. Or you’ve got to have a pound in your purse before you even go to the local shop to purchase that ticket.  

Positive action can be, treating yourself to a cup of tea in your favourite cup, getting up 5 minutes early just so you don’t have to rush so much, making your bed, making a shopping list, making a list of any kind and having the joy of ticking it off. For some it may be, washing your hair, emptying out a cupboard, giving yourself time to read another chapter in your book, baking a cake, going for a walk, lighting a candle and just being quiet and thoughtful for a few minutes.

Positive Interaction again this doesn’t have to be the huge things like losing a stone in weight, or getting that dream job although both of these things are achievable but to start with again we need to take small steps.  It could be texting a friend, smiling at someone in the street, researching how you begin the process of getting that dream job, volunteering, helping a neighbour.

Positive thinking, Buddha spent a great many years in isolation and deep meditative states to be able to share with us the great wisdom he gained.  Again start small, Positive thinking is the changing of the mindset it takes time. It is easy to negatively forecast the future,’I’ll never be able to afford that’, ‘I’ll never find a partner’, ‘I’ll never lose any weight’. It’s also easy to negatively introspect about the past. It’s that trip to the beach which was much longed for and enjoyed thoroughly, then negatively remembering the hellish journey home with the children tired and hungry, focusing on the journey home eradicates much of the feel good feelings that you had when you remembered splashing in the sea, building the sandcastle, having the ice cream treat.  

It’s fair to say the 3 P’s are tricky little P’s, it does take a little bit of time and practice to start changing your mindset into a more positive solution focused mind.  But change is possible and so very worthwhile because when you start these small steps they then gather momentum and you start to become your best self, reaching your full potential.

Small steps = big changes