How Hypnosis Helps with Habits

Question
I don't understand how hypnosis can help me with changing a habit or accomplishing goals. I have tried very hard to break a nervous habit with everything I can think of, but nothing has worked. Can you help?

Answer
Most things we try when we are wanting to change something in ourselves is through our conscious effort. We try to be more motivated, we try to be more disciplined, we talk it out with someone, we try various suggestions -- but, often, they don't work. The reason they don't work, is that most efforts are done at the conscious level. But the real reasons, urges or problems related to that habit lie at the unconscious level of the mind. And, therefore, any change has to occur at that level for lasting effects. Now, the way hypnosis works is, that when you are relaxed and focused, the deeper levels, or aspects, of your mind are more open to suggestions. Positive statements can then be given to your own powerful subconscious mind. These suggestions will become part of you, if you accept them. It's as if you had an old tape or old computer program running, and someone was now replacing it with a new, more helpful program. Your old programming was based upon a different time or different desires and needs in your life. Those desires and needs have now changed for you. But your unconscious mind, which continues to accept the old as what is expected and necessary, doesn't yet understand that change. It thus keeps you from achieving your goal or perpetuates a problem. Your deeper mind, so to speak, has to be informed, in a way that will be received by your unconscious self, that you now want something different in your life than you wanted before. The unconscious mind has to understand that it is of benefit to you to change the habit. So, the hypnotherapist gives repetitions of suggestions to convince that part of yourself that it is time to change. The new programming (or hypnotic suggestions) removes the old program and gives you a new one that accomplishes your goal or solves your problem. It's like taping over an old cassette tape, where the re-taping erases what was on the tape before, and replaces it with new stuff. Or, for computer users, like a new software program for enhanced hardware, which replaces the old programming.