The purpose of psychotherapy is to encourage self-awareness and self-evaluation in order to enable transformation and facilitate possibilities. It is this process of self-evaluation that is crucial to personal action (McKay, 1987) and integral to psychodynamic therapy (PDT) and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). This essay will critically evaluate cognitive behavioral and psychodynamic theories regarding self-awareness and self-evaluation and explore the ways in which these theories and their understanding of self can be used within clinical hypnosis. CBT and REBT Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (Ellis, 1955) rely on self-reflection and evaluation to achieve success. CBT uses the stimulus-response (SR) model (Pavlov, 1903). The reflexive response to the stimulus (Gross, 2005) is modified into stimulus-cognition response (SCR) (Beck, 1967). This introduces a reflective element, similar to the input-processing-output scheme present in the computational model of the mind (Putman, 1961, 1988; Fodor, 1979). Decision making and rationality (Jones and Pulos, 1993) are used to negotiate knowledge of internal influence. Once this knowledge is perceived, cognitions are evaluated and reevaluated before rational alternatives are generated (Ellis, 1962). Thus introducing the possibility of transformation. CBT is most effective with anxiety disorders (Beck et al 1985; Schoenberger et al, 1997; Brown 2007) and eating disorders (Baker and Nash, 1987; Griffiths et al, 1996). Meta-analysis also supports the use of CBT with depression (Gaffan, Tsaosis, Kemp-Wheeler, 1995; Butter & Beck, 2000). However, while some studies suggest that CBT is more effective when used alone, i.e. without drugs (Marks, Swinson, Basoglu, Kuch, N...... half of the article ...... in hypnotherapeutic practice. Freud's regression technique is usefully employed in hypnosis to gain insights or recognize the origin of a problem, for example work on the inner child, counting backwards. Furthermore, Freud's concept relating to the fixation of trauma affecting the Psychosexual stages can be used to indicate the root cause of habitual behaviors, for example oral pain: eating, aggressive oral re: nail biting, anal retention re: obsessive compulsive disorder. That said it is important to recognize the flaws in Freud's research. first, its sample group is not universally representative and second, the culture and era make the theories less relevant for today. It could also be argued that too much emphasis is placed on the fact that sexuality is at the root of psychological and behavioral problems.