Patients can be taught how to interact with their subconscious to gain insight into possible causes and solutions for their psychological issues. As a first step in this process, we set up one or two methods through which the subconscious can answer, “Yes,” “No,” or “I don’t want to say.”

The patient is instructed to leave one of their hands alone, and not move it on purpose. I then suggest that the subconscious can raise one finger to indicate “Yes,” another finger to indicate “No,” and a third finger to indicate, “I don’t want to say.” Once it is established which finger is which, I proceed to ask questions.

This method is often referred to as “ideomotor signaling,” and works with about 75 percent of my pediatric patients.

The patient is instructed to flex their arm while placing their elbow on an armrest. I explain that their job is to keep the arm flexed as best as possible throughout our interactions and to resist my pulling their arm down.

I then demonstrate that when the subconscious thinks “Yes,” the arm stays strong and flexed, when the subconscious thinks “No,” the arm........

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