Hypnotherapy for anxiety
How does Hypnotherapy help with anxiety?
Anxiety is more common than you may realise. It's characterised by excessive worry, fear, and nervousness and often manifests as physical symptoms such as a rapid heart rate, restlessness, and muscle tension.
While some level of anxiety is normal (i.e. when you have a genuine worry such as someone you love being in hospital), chronic and severe anxiety can significantly impair a person's daily life and overall well-being. It can be caused by a variety of factors, including genetic predisposition, environmental stressors, past learning and trauma.
Hypnotherapy is a therapeutic approach that uses guided relaxation and focused attention to help individuals enter a state of heightened suggestibility, often referred to as a trance or hypnotic state (you are not asleep, merely relaxed). In this state, the therapist can work with the client to address the underlying causes of their anxiety and help their subconscious mind to react differently. Hypnotherapy can be beneficial for anxiety by targeting the subconscious mind, where deep-seated fears and worries may be rooted. It can help individuals reframe negative thought patterns, reduce the physical symptoms of anxiety, and enhance relaxation and self-regulation skills.
What to expect in the sessions
After an initial consultation to discover if the work that I do is suitable for you and if you feel that its right for you, you may then book your first session if you wish (there is never any pressure to book an appointment, it has to feel right for you).
In the first session, we set your goals. An overall goal of what you want to achieve and then we break that down into the specifics of what needs to change in order for your overall goal to be achieved. i.e. if you feel anxious going out to group settings, we would set a goal of how you want to feel in a group setting instead. Sounds simple, but many people find it challenging to set a goal that does not include the things they don't want. So first I help you set your goals and objectives. There may be just one, there may be lots, everyone is different.
During this goal setting session, it helps me to get to know you and where you want to be in the future. I will already be thinking of the way I'll be structuring your future sessions (although this will always be flexible, as we are human and different things may impact each time i see you.
We many have time for a short hypnotherapy session afetr we have set your goals, or it may take up the whole session time.
With the majority of people I see for anxiety, I use whats often referred to as inner child work, this is about allowing your subconscious mind to bring forward the sticking points that have been causing the problems (often, although not always, things from childhood). We find ways for your subconnscious mind to release the uncomfortable feelings of not feeling safe/outdated protection mechanisms. This is the foundation work, which we can then build on.
Once we have passed this stage, we return to your goals to see what has resolved, anything left unresolved, we then work on spceifcally. This is where we use different techniques. Breaking down old thinking habits and creating new more positive feelings in the situations that you need them.
Every session is unscripted and individual to you.
If you wish to find out more to see if hypnotherapy could help you, book a free of charge consultation (£5 deposit, returned after consultation).