Working With the Part That Doesn’t Want to Change

A Gentle, Ego-State-Informed Hypnotherapy Approach

Many clients arrive in therapy wanting change while simultaneously feeling blocked, conflicted, or “self-sabotaging.” These inner conflicts are often misunderstood as resistance or lack of motivation, when in fact they usually represent protective responses developed for emotional safety.

This presentation explores how ego-state-informed hypnotherapy can be used gently and ethically to work with the part of the client that does not want to change. Rather than attempting to override or confront resistance, this approach focuses on understanding the positive intention behind protective behaviours and working collaboratively with inner parts.

Drawing on extensive clinical experience, the session examines how inner conflict shows up in presentations such as addiction, anxiety, ambivalence, and relapse. Attendees will learn how to recognise protective patterns, reduce internal struggle, and support integration without creating dependency or destabilisation.

Ethical boundaries are a key focus of this presentation, including knowing when ego-state work is appropriate, how to avoid reinforcing maladaptive identities, and how to maintain client autonomy and safety throughout the process.

This session is particularly valuable for practitioners who are interested in ego-state-informed work but lack confidence in applying it safely. Practical insights shared will help hypnotherapists work with inner conflict in a way that supports trust, cooperation, and sustainable change.

Meredith McCarthy is a clinical hypnotherapist with over 30 years of experience and more than a decade teaching clinical hypnotherapy. She is the founder of the New Zealand Academy of Clinical Hypnotherapy and President of the New Zealand Association of Professional Hypnotherapists. Meredith has presented at the Hypno Summit and numerous NLP and hypnosis conferences internationally. Her clinical work focuses on helping clients resolve inner conflict through safe, ethical, ego-state-informed hypnotherapy that supports trust, cooperation, and sustainable change.