The Importance of Practice

Four Stages of Competence 

Whenever we learn something new, we go through four distinct stages.  In psychology, these are called the four stages of competence.  Each stage describes a person’s knowledge and skill in terms of two dimensions: competence-incompetence and conscious-unconscious.   

The first stage is called Unconscious Incompetence.  In this stage, an individual is not competent in a particular area and they are not aware of that incompetence at a conscious level.  At this stage, you don’t know what you don’t know. 

The second stage, Conscious Incompetence, occurs when an individual’s incompetence comes into their consciousness.  We enter this stage when we are first exposed to new information or a skill. 

The third stage, Conscious Competence, occurs when an individual has competence consciously.  Beyond mere exposure, at this stage, we have gained a certain level of comfort with a body of knowledge or have developed a certain amount of skill. 

The fourth stage, Unconscious Competence, occurs when an individual has competence, but it is not available consciously.  The competence is demonstrated without thinking about it consciously.  One example is driving a car; while it may have taken conscious effort to learn how to drive, once it is mastered, it is something we do automatically. 
    
The four stages of competence is an interesting and useful model that can help us assess where we are in the learning process.  If we find ourselves in stage two, conscious incompetence, we can decide if we want to study the subject or practice the skill further.  To move from stage three to stage four, extensive exposure and repetition may be required to incorporate the knowledge and skills at an unconscious level. 

Mastery Model 

The biggest challenge that people have in using the four stages of competence model is that the names are somewhat confusing and impractical to use.  As a result, we like to offer a simpler model, the Mastery Model, which is easier to understand and use. 

While the Mastery Model still represents the dimensions of competence and consciousness, the stages are simply called Unawareness, Awareness, Competence, and Mastery.  The Mastery Model is presented in the same stair-like diagram as the four stages of competence.  Diagram of 4 Stages of Competence & Mastery Model.

Sitting in the Dentist’s Chair 

Imagine you are sitting in the dentist’s chair preparing to have a cavity filled without pain medication.  You have a basic understanding of hypnosis and you’ve practiced with a relaxation audio program several times.  You understand the mechanics of glove anesthesia, you’ve even had success in getting your hand to numb, but transferring the numbness to another part of your body is hit-or-miss for you.  You are a little self-conscious about telling the dentist that you are using self-hypnosis during the procedure, so you don’t use any outside audio prompts to assist you in getting into the right state before the procedure begins.  Your plan is to just refuse pain medications when they are offered.

What do you think happens as the dentist begins the procedure?  This is a true story, so I can tell you exactly what happened.  That tooth, the one that really hurts right now, is all you can think about.  It becomes impossible to shift your attention to anything other than the cold and painful sensations coming from that tooth.  You are not skilled enough to get yourself deeper into hypnosis without conscious effort and right now all of your conscious thoughts are on one thing, the tooth that hurts.  You begin to panic, moving out of the hypnotic state entirely and feeling even more of what is going on with that tooth.  Soon after, you’ve signed up for every form of pain control available to you.

Why did this happen to you when you know other people have done exactly what you were trying to do with as little as a few weeks of preparation?  The Mastery Model has the answer.  When you look at people who use hypnosis in these kinds of “surgical” settings, they are highly motivated to master the techniques.  They practice on their own, seek professional help if needed to prepare, use any outside support they need during the procedure and they get to a point where the skills they need are unconsciously available to them.

Why this Matters in HypnoBirthing  

While normal birthing is not a surgical or medical event, it can be just as frightening and it can bring with it pain and discomfort for some women.  HypnoBirthing teaches techniques to help you prepare your mind and body for a calmer more comfortable birth.  However, these techniques must be practiced and mastered.  They need to be available to you on an unconscious level during labor.  You don’t want to be searching for the right script, struggling to create glove anesthesia or creating your special place for the first time at a point during labor when you need these techniques immediately available to you.  Consistent practice is the key to conditioning your mind and body for the birthing experience you want.