Changing the self-concept is particularly powerful in changing a person’s responses and behavior, because the self-concept is:

• One of many possible generalizations, based on selecting a set of experiences (out of all the experiences we have had) and assembling them. A relatively large generalization in terms of scope or extent;

• Something that goes through time and across contexts,  (like your name) so that changes in it tend to generalize very widely in time and space;

• A process that describes itself, so it is self-referential or self-generating.  It is an example of a “feed-forward,” generative system that creates itself.