Does hypnosis work for anxiety?
If you're suffering with anxiety, overwhelm or overthinking, hypnotherapy can be a gentle, transformational (and often surprising quick) way to take control of the underlying subconscious fears and limiting beliefs .
Is there 'proof' the hypnotherapy works?
There’s an increasing body of scientific research showing that hypnotherapy is a highly effective treatment for anxiety and anxiety-related disorders including IBS and tension headaches. For instance, a recent meta-analysis or overview of 17 trials found that “the average participant receiving hypnosis reduced anxiety more than 79% of control participants.” Other studies have also found that hypnotherapy had longer lasting results than CBT and that it could yield quicker, and therefore more cost-effective results, than other talking therapies.
Hypnotherapy is approved by the British Medical Association (BMA) and is a recognised treatment for anxiety by mental health organisations such as Anxiety UK and Mind.
Hypnotherapy for Brighton – treating anxiety
Anxiety, in many ways, is another word for fear, which can be a really useful emotion – BUT ONLY if it really does help you keep yourself safe.
If that fear or anxiety is actually making life harder or becoming a problem in itself, then, logically, you might as well dial it right down or get rid of it altogether. Can you imagine, for a moment, what that would be like?
Our imaginative subconscious is what makes us such an exceptionally creative species, but all too often it uses that creativity to scare the **** out of us. Whether that’s convincing us as children that
there are monsters under the bed, or dreaming up myriad ways that, as (supposed) grown-ups, we’re going to mess up (again) and that other people will find out how stupid or bad we really are.
In neither instance is that fear useful. In both those scenarios, the anxiety will keep us awake at night and make life harder during the day.
The logical conscious part of your mind will probably agree with this. But it will typically have had limited success in getting that through to part of your subconscious that dreams up the horrors that keep you feeling, thinking and behaving like this.
You might possibly have been further adding to the anxiety by thinking stuff like: “If I wasn’t so weak/stupid/lazy/useless/etc I wouldn’t have this problem.”
The truth is that you’re probably none of those things. It’s just that most human brains are wired so that when our logic is in conflict with our emotions, our emotions will always win. Perversely, the louder your logical mind bangs on the door to your subconscious the more frightened it becomes of letting logic in.
If we really want to take control of our fears, we need to resolve that conflict.
And that’s how hypnotherapy can help you with anxiety.
Hypnotherapy is a way of calmly opening the door between our conscious and subconscious minds. It provides a safe space for them to understand one another and find a way of working together. Its hypnotherapy’s ability to reach and reason with the subconscious that so often yields deeper, quicker, longer lasting results for anxiety compared to other talking therapies.
Your hypnotherapist will guide you into a relaxed state of mind, a bit like meditation but much easier, because you have someone helping you remain focussed.
Contrary to the common myths about hypnosis, no-one takes over control of your mind and you can’t be made to say or do anything against your will. In fact, hypnotherapy does very much the opposite, because it puts you safely in control of ‘dehypnotising’ yourself from the subconscious limiting beliefs that keep triggering your anxiety.
Working with your hypnotherapist, you can gently trace your feelings of anxiety back to the limiting beliefs at their root cause.
Every experience we have ever had causes us to form a belief or reaffirm one we already have. Anxiety-inducing beliefs might be formed in childhood or at any time in the past. Some of them might have been passed on from anxious parents, some might be the result of a bad time at school or a difficult relationship. Others may be due to random or deeply traumatic events. Some of these beliefs might even have been true and useful at one time, others never so.
Hypnotherapy works for anxiety by letting you quieten your logical mind and watch, listen, feel, even taste and smell, as your imaginative subconscious explains itself using the senses. It’s often profound, always fascinating, a bit like a dream but you’re in control of the ending.
In hypnosis, as the understanding grows between the different parts of you, they begin to work together to let go of unhelpful fears and form new beliefs that will serve you better going forward.
You may well revisit memories, but only those that you’re ready to, reminding yourself that they’re in the past and that you can safely wander around them now, checking to see if they really meant what you thought they meant. You can almost travel back in time to rescue your younger self, for instance, showing younger you that it wasn’t their fault they were bullied or that their parents were unhappy. By helping them see that, even though they felt afraid, bad, stupid, powerless or alone, it doesn’t mean that that’s who they are or that’s what life will always be like. You can’t change your past, but you can unchain your fears so they don’t hold back your future.
As a clinical hypnotherapist in Brighton, I’ve helped a great many clients with a wide range of anxiety issues, including social anxiety, low self-esteem, stress and overwhelm, past trauma, emotional eating, grief, some addictions and more…
Every human mind is unique in terms of the brain we were born with and the experiences that have shaped it. And in my experience, every anxiety is unique in terms of the belief beneath it and how it impacts someone’s life. Therefore, every hypnotherapy session is different and the techniques I use are tailored to your precise needs.
As to how many sessions you’ll need, that too varies form person to person. My clients nearly always notice an improvement after the first session and leave feeling considerably more hopeful and relaxed than when they arrived. This builds into deeper, lasting change over the course of sessions. Typically, you may need one or two sessions for something like interview stress or a simple phobia, and four to six for deeper or more complex, deep-rooted problems.
If you’re had enough of wrestling with your anxiety and want to know more about how hypnotherapy can help, please feel free to call me in confidence and with no obligation.
We can discuss your particular issue and I can answer any questions you may have about how you can set yourself free from your anxiety. Unchaining the past. Transforming the future.
07748 165227 Hypnotherapy for Brighton, 7 Dials, BN1 3AH
carol@hypnotherapyforbrighton.com
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