At Enhanced Healing Counseling, our foundational belief aligns powerfully with the teachings of Louise Hay: our thoughts shape our reality. In Chapter One of You Can Heal Your Life, titled “Life Is Really Very Simple. What We Give Out, We Get Back,” Louise Hay presents a life-altering truth — the circumstances we experience are deeply influenced, if not entirely created, by the thoughts we think and the beliefs we hold about ourselves and the world. This blog article expands on that chapter, weaving it into a contemporary, therapeutic framework to support healing from addiction, mental health issues, and low self-esteem.

“What we think about ourselves becomes the truth for us.” These powerful words from Hay lay the foundation for personal responsibility and transformation. Most people unknowingly create their future with habitual, often negative, thought patterns. These thoughts not only influence mood and behavior but shape the entire emotional and physical reality of our lives.

In counseling, we observe how clients struggling with addiction or emotional distress often harbor deeply rooted negative self-concepts: “I’m not good enough,” “I always fail,” or “No one really cares about me.” These self-beliefs generate emotions like guilt, fear, and shame, which reinforce and perpetuate the very situations clients want to escape. Hay teaches that it is not external events that have power over us, but rather the internal landscape of our beliefs and emotional patterns.

Hay invites us to consider how two people with different core beliefs perceive and experience the world differently. One person might say, “People are out to get me,” while another believes, “Everyone is always helpful.” Though they may live in the same environment, their experiences diverge drastically. Why? Because the mind seeks to confirm what it believes. In psychological terms, this is known as “confirmation bias.”

In therapeutic practice, we help clients see how their external reality mirrors their internal thought world. For example, someone who believes they are unworthy of love may consistently attract partners who are emotionally unavailable or even abusive. When they begin to shift their core belief to one of self-worth, their experiences change — not by chance, but by a change in consciousness.

One of the most compassionate aspects of Hay’s teaching is her view of the Universe (or Higher Power) as nonjudgmental. It does not punish or reward us in the traditional sense. Instead, it simply reflects our dominant thoughts and beliefs. If we consistently affirm that life is hard and no one can be trusted, the Universe mirrors that back through difficult relationships, financial struggles, or chronic health issues.

The good news is that we can begin, at any moment, to choose new thoughts. By affirming, “I am lovable,” “Life supports me,” or “I am safe,” we change the vibrational frequency of our consciousness, which then alters our experience. Hay emphasizes that our subconscious mind accepts whatever we choose to believe. Therefore, choosing beliefs that affirm life, love, and personal value becomes essential to healing.

Hay outlines how our early childhood experiences, especially with caregivers, shape our self-perception. Children are like sponges; they absorb the emotional climate of the home. If a child grows up in a household dominated by fear, criticism, guilt, or anger, those energies become internalized. They learn to think, feel, and act according to the emotional templates they observed.

Importantly, Hay encourages us not to blame our parents, but to understand that they too were doing the best they could based on their own upbringing. This perspective aligns with modern family systems therapy, which sees generational trauma as an inherited legacy rather than an individual failing.

When we see our parents as wounded children in adult bodies, we begin to shift from blame to compassion — a critical first step in emotional liberation.

In her chapter, Hay asserts that we often recreate the emotional environments of our childhoods in our adult lives. If we were criticized as children, we likely criticize ourselves now. If we were neglected or emotionally starved, we may find ourselves in relationships that replay those same dynamics.

But these repetitions are not punishment — they are invitations to heal. When clients become aware of these recurring patterns, they begin to take back their power. They learn to speak kindly to themselves, set boundaries, and nurture their inner child. They begin to affirm a new truth: “I deserve love, respect, and support.”

One of the most empowering ideas in Hay’s philosophy is that the point of power is always in the present moment. No matter how long a person has suffered, or how deeply a pattern is entrenched, change is possible now. The past is over. What matters is the thought you are thinking now, and whether you choose to repeat the past or create a new future.

This idea is especially liberating for individuals facing addiction or chronic mental health challenges. Often, these individuals feel imprisoned by their past — past mistakes, trauma, or shame. Hay’s message is clear: You are not your past. You are your current thought, and you can choose a better one.

It may seem automatic, but every thought is a choice. Hay emphasizes that we often repeat negative thoughts by habit, not necessity. When we become conscious of these patterns, we can begin to choose differently. We can refuse to think thoughts that hurt us.

This is where affirmations become powerful tools. Saying to yourself, “I approve of myself,” or “I am enough,” disrupts the old tape playing in your subconscious. At first, it may feel untrue or awkward, but with repetition and emotional engagement, the affirmation begins to reshape your inner landscape.

Therapists can support this process by helping clients uncover the core limiting belief, replace it with a life-affirming thought, and practice that thought with emotional sincerity.

Hay connects emotional patterns like resentment, guilt, criticism, and fear to physical dis-ease. While this may seem unconventional in traditional medicine, more integrative and holistic models of health are validating this connection. Chronic emotional states affect the nervous system, immune response, and overall vitality.

For instance:

• Resentment can lead to chronic tension and inflammation.
• Criticism (of self or others) often manifests as rigidity or stiffness, such as arthritis.
• Guilt seeks punishment, and pain is often the body’s expression of this dynamic.
• Fear produces chronic stress responses that can contribute to ulcers, heart issues, and even autoimmune disorders.

By addressing the underlying emotional beliefs, individuals can create a healthier internal environment for the body to heal.

A central theme in Chapter One is forgiveness. Hay declares that all dis-ease originates in a state of unforgiveness. Whether it is ourselves or others we hold in judgment, the effect is the same — a barrier to healing. Forgiveness is not about condoning harmful behavior but about releasing ourselves from the emotional prison of resentment.

Forgiveness affirms, “I no longer choose to carry this pain.” Even if we don’t yet know how to forgive, the willingness to forgive is the key that opens the door. As Hay often said, “I forgive you for not being the way I wanted you to be. I forgive you and I set you free.”

This act of mental and emotional liberation has a ripple effect on the body, relationships, finances, and creativity.

All healing, according to Hay, begins with one practice: loving the self. Self-love is not narcissism; it is the conscious act of nurturing, accepting, and approving of yourself exactly as you are. It is the foundation of all personal transformation.

Most people are engaged in a lifelong battle of self-criticism and guilt. Hay gently challenges us to consider: What if we tried something new? What if, instead of criticizing ourselves for not being good enough, we began to love and approve of ourselves?

Self-approval and self-acceptance are the soil from which all positive change grows. In therapy, this becomes a daily practice: journaling affirmations, mirror work, meditation, and practicing gratitude — not as quick fixes but as reprogramming tools for the subconscious mind.

Louise Hay’s message in Chapter One is clear, empowering, and transformational: You are not a victim. You are the thinker of your thoughts, and you have the power to choose new ones — right now. The point of power is always in the present moment.

At Enhanced Healing Counseling, we incorporate this timeless wisdom into our therapeutic model, especially for those recovering from addiction, trauma, and mental health challenges. Our clients are not broken. They are simply living out old beliefs that no longer serve them. Through self-love, affirmations, forgiveness, and conscious choice, they can — and do — heal.

Let today be the day you start saying: “I am enough. I love and accept myself. Life loves me.”

Because life really is that simple.

Dr. Harry Henshaw

Enhanced Healing Counseling Music

Positive Affirmation Recordings

Relaxation Music Recordings

Testimonials