Self-compassion and Humanist Hypnosis: the language of symbols and archetypes

Self-compassion: a kind and caring communication with oneself

Self-compassion (compassion towards oneself) is a practice that is increasingly fashionable and offered by many therapists and well-being specialists.

When we speak of self-compassion, we are speaking of a voluntary act by which we observe ourselves from the inside, and by which we establish a kind and caring communication between the act on the outside and its resonance on the inside.

Yet most of the time, the language we use on a daily basis to talk to ourselves and call ourselves into question turns out to be catastrophic in terms of effectiveness and motivation.

Self-criticism is often the result of an inner negative dialogue fuelled by automatic and intrusive thoughts that can be irrational and distorted

Instead of self-compassion, we are subjected to the formidable and merciless harshness of our self-criticism.

But in reality, self-compassion and self-criticism are both a form of communication established with our own self.

Self-criticism is often the result of an inner negative dialogue fuelled by automatic and intrusive thoughts that can be irrational and distorted – and which often finds its origin in the family environment, particularly in an education that is too demanding or marked by mistreatment (which favours a negative inner dialogue).

As for self-compassion, it is also an inner dialogue, with the difference that it is composed of three factors:

Kindness towards oneself – being kind and understanding towards oneself when one feels like a failure, or inadequate, rather than being in self-criticism.

Recognition of our common humanity – seeing one’s difficult experiences as part of the human experience rather than as something that isolates us and separates us from others.

An attentive presence (also called “mindfulness”) – observing one’s thoughts, sensations and emotions without value judgment, and giving them permission to exist, without clinging to them too much.

Since self-compassion and self-criticism are two aspects of an interaction with oneself, the question that arises is:

How can one communicate effectively and kindly with oneself, in order to escape the torments of harmful self-criticism?

One central path, in Humanist Hypnosis, consists in understanding and using the language of symbols.

Symbols: a framework for understanding

Quantum physics has shown that “reality” is made up of a field of information with varying densities.

Humanist Hypnosis considers this field of information as the Matrix itself, arising from Consciousness, from pure Information.

Olivier Lockert co-founder of Humanist Hypnosis

As Olivier Lockert, co-founder of Humanist Hypnosis, explains in his book Hypnose Humaniste – Voie de Guérison et d’Éveil, “There is something that gives shape to everything that exists.

And what gives shape is literally called informare in Latin (to shape, to form, to give form).

This is what gave us the word ‘information’.

Information, according to physics and according to the etymology of the word, is what gives form to the world and to life.

Thus, absolutely everything, every object, every animal, and even every thought or emotion, has its ‘Informational Object’: the program that coordinates its form and its existence.

Since our conscious mind cannot perceive all of these ‘blocks of information’ at the same time, it simplifies them, giving them an appearance that is easy for our brain to handle: symbols.

This is how we perceive a concrete world and, on the psychological level, how our dreams and our emotions take shape.

If every experience has an origin at the symbolic level, then acting symbolically can facilitate a transformation at the source, in a simple and often rapid way.

The key idea is pragmatic: since we are made of the same symbolic “material”, we can intervene in our inner experience.

Our conscious mind itself is a combination of the flow of Consciousness arising from our Matrix and our automatic, inanimate block, the Unconscious.

All we have to do is shift our point of balance towards greater consciousness in order to gain the ability to reshape who we are, body and mind: to relieve a feeling, eliminate a trauma, change a belief, a behaviour, or anything else…

Thus, symbols are marks, signs or words that indicate, signify or are understood as representing an idea, an object, a relationship or a concept, often by convention or association.”.

The symbolic in everyday life: idioms and dreams

The symbolic permeates our language and our daily lives.

Symbols can take various forms, including objects, colours, shapes, characters or gestures, and they serve to represent abstract or invisible ideas in a concrete way.

For example, a red rose generally symbolizes love or romance, while a skull can represent death.

In communication, symbols allow people to go beyond what is directly known or seen, by creating connections between different concepts and experiences.

They are fundamental to human understanding and are used in all cultures to express ideologies, social structures and shared beliefs.

Our self always communicates with our consciousness through symbols and symbolic patterns.

Expressions such as “I’ve had it up to here” (literally “I’ve got a back full of it”), “I have a frog in my throat”, “he stabbed me in the back” or “my heart is broken” express a symbolic reading of what we are living.

A second major pathway: dreams. They constitute a realm of symbols, a mode of expression of our depth.

They are often obscure and require real knowledge of symbols and their meaning in order to decipher their significance.

Transforming the symbol, transforming the experience

In the context of Humanist Hypnosis, it is not necessary to interpret symbols in an analytical way or to look for their origin.

The symbol already contains everything that is useful for the intervention, here and now.

Transforming a symbol already means engaging a lived transformation: an inner shift, an appeasement, a reframing of meaning.

The experience is immediate for many people.

The work is guided by a trained practitioner, and the person remains the actor of their process.

This perceived effectiveness makes symbols a key to accessing communication with oneself — and therefore to compassion towards oneself.

And thanks to this effectiveness, symbols are the key to opening the door to communication with oneself, then to compassion towards oneself.

The three essential archetypes (child, feminine, masculine)

Thanks to the work of its creators, Olivier Lockert and Patricia d’Angeli, the remarkable particularity of Humanist Hypnosis is that it has opened up a structured path towards self-compassion and the easing of one’s relationship with oneself.

This consists in the discovery and the care of the three essential archetypes: the Inner Child, the Inner Feminine, and the Inner Masculine.

Not to be confused with “the sacred child, the sacred feminine and the sacred masculine”, which belong to other approaches.

These three archetypes are the three essential components of the inner energy of life, of the inner self itself.

And a simple and illustrative way of thinking about archetypes is to consider them as energies.

The first, the energy of the inner child, is the energy of possibility, of dreams, of joy, of pure energy, the source of creation.

The second, the energy of the inner feminine, is the energy of logistics, the energy of the creation of life, the energy of the matrix, the source of life.

The third and last, the energy of the inner masculine, is the energy of action, of realization, of movement, of the alchemy of matter, of transformation, of metamorphosis.

These three basic energies make up the living architecture of the self.

Life, with its challenges and trials, can veil their radiance.

Humanist work aims to take care of these archetypes, to reconcile them, in order to restore a tangible inner unity: more coherence, more calm, more available energy and more direction.

Conclusion: awareness, choice, gentleness

With Humanist Hypnosis, it becomes possible to experience compassion towards oneself in a concrete way, often for the first time, and to heal one’s inner self through the care given to the archetypes.

A totally new journey into the world of commitment to oneself, inner communication, and consciousness.

Being aware is part of compassion towards oneself and brings each person into the world of choices — and of choices towards oneself.

And what if we considered that each choice is an act of awareness and an act of compassion towards ourselves?

Imagine what it is like to be at work, at home, in the lightness of self-awareness and self-compassion.

Simply imagine it.

Take a deep breath.

And feel it deeply.