The following ‘Laws’ and ‘Rules’ may be useful concepts to help us to produce the desired change when we are working with hypnosis. I would caution however that there are many ways of looking at how the mind functions and the below are from the perspective of modern hypnotherapy.

LAWS OF MIND AND THOUGHT THAT AFFECT CHANGE:

Law of Desire: A person must truly want the outcome that he or she claims to seek. There must be a burning, desire for the positive outcome. If there is a pattern of evoking a secondary benefit such as attention from a spouse or family who always do things for her or if her usual behavior is one of fragility, weakness and needing help, these can create an obstacle to her. Developing a belief in herself as an independent and able person can result in an altogether different outcome.

Law of Harmonious attraction: This is by far the most important law of thought; and, yet, it is one of the most difficult to apply. All that a person says (or hears) and believes is what the person gets. People attract conditions and situations that are in harmony with their thinking. Explore your self-talk. It is important that what is NOT WANTED be totally avoided. No exposure or discussion is to be devoted to what is not desired. It is a very difficult concept for some people who have been living with a different concept for a period of time. It is so important to  absorb this concept. Only positive creations are considered. Leave all talk of negatives behind - DON'T GO THERE!

Law of Belief / expectancy: With hypnotherapy its not "Seeing is believing". It's definitely "Believing is seeing." Success is  with a persons trust in herself and her body and the belief that whatever needs to be done can be done. She needs to expect that she can do it with or without others. What the client expects to happen happens.

Law of Relaxation: This is also the law of opposite effort. If the client is doing manual work, she must put all effort into it. When approaching mental work, she must step aside and let it come naturally. Desired outcomes cannot be forced or manipulated. Imagery is the tool; thought is the technique. Thoughts are entities and, therefore, have energy that has the ability to bring about the desired change.

Law of Visualization: With  guidance, a person is helped to see the positive end result. Negatives can be released, and a new, positive image can be imprinted. She can be helped to see herself easily, comfortably achieving her goals and actually becoming a part of that physical image by imposing herself into the visualization.

Law of Substitution: Since the mind can hold only one thought at a time, and someone chooses what that thought will be, it is essential that negative thoughts be immediately canceled and that empty space must be filled with a substituted positive imagery. It is not enough to identify the seed thoughts that create fear, those thoughts must be eliminated and substituted. This is the major difference between talk therapy and hypnosis. Hypnosis supplies the imagery that provides the substitution.

Law of Mental Practice: Here is the importance of regular practice with self hypnosis, cd's or other agreed exercises. Repetition is the answer.

Law of self-concept: People must be able to feel that they are deserving and capable of achieving the desired outcome. If others-parents,clergy, counselors, friends, and medical care givers are occupying rent-free space -in their minds, these areas of control need to be released. They needs to end the gunnysacking, and empty the bag of limiting thoughts. People need to feel empowered, The practitioner needs to help restore their faith and trust in themselves and in their bodies and their capabilities.
 
RULES OF THE MIND:

1) RULE: The mind can hold only one thought at a time. Opposing thoughts cannot be held simultaneously; therefore, affirming, positive thought creates a positive outcome. The person thinking the thought can and must choose what the nature of that thought will be.

2) RULE: Thought precedes reality. Whatever one focuses upon, whether it be of an internal or external origin, becomes manifested. What one says is what one gets. Intention creates experience.

3) RULE: For every thought or emotion there is a related physical response. Thoughts that are imprinted into the subconscious create a biochemical response within the body; hence, over a period of time we can create our own health or illnesses with conditioned responses. The rich get rich; the poor get poorer.

4) RULE: New programming in the subconscious is always more powerful and always wins out over past programming when the two are in conflict. The non-reasoning, childlike subconscious cannot distinguish between fact and fantasy. If the illusion is that the new information introduced into the scene is for the person's well being, the subconscious accepts the new programming--right or wrong.

5) RULE: Once a thought is accepted and acted upon, behaviour becomes easier with each subsequent similar thought. Continued reinforcement of a thought or action tends to make the thought more readily accepted, and it becomes easier for additional suggestion of the same nature to be accepted and acted upon. (A child, once frightened by a vicious dog, may become frightened of all dogs even when there is no reason for fear.)

6) RULE: Once thought is accepted by the subconscious, it remains in tact until it is replaced with another. Regardless of information to the contrary, unless the original imprint is released and destroyed and a new imprint is substituted, a person will continue to harbor the original thought.