Hypnotherapy for Anxiety & Anxiety-Related Issues.
What is Anxiety?
Anxiety can be understood as thoughts, feelings and physical sensations that arise when we are primarily worried, concerned or afraid about the future. You are likely to be preoccupied with your safety (financially, emotionally or physically) and of those around you such as your family or colleagues. You may even worry about the planet and climate change.
Feeling anxious is a perfectly normal human experience. We all, at various times in our lives, feel on edge, tense or fearful if we are about to do something new, daunting or stretching.
You might have heard about the ‘flight, fight, freeze or flop’ safety responses to perceived threats. We have evolved an autonomic nervous system that has been designed to save our life. Modern life has advanced so quickly that our bodies and minds are lagging behind so that we think we are vulnerable and our systems respond but in fact the situation is not life threatening.
What remains is an overproduction of adrenaline and cortisol that is not fully consumed through our behaviour.
Often when we are caught up in a cycle of anxiety and worry, we are unable to live fully in the present and so to help manage our anxious feelings we may engage in habits that help us cope with our feelings such as overworking, nail biting or rumination.
When you feel like you can’t control our anxiety or it gets in the way of you performing your roles in life then it’s a good time to talk to a therapist about seeking support.
Symptoms of Anxiety
Some common traits of anxiety are but not limited to:
Feeling ‘on edge’ more often than not
Physical sensations such as butterflies or knots in the stomach, nausea, increased heart rate, high blood pressure and tension in the body.
Racing and uncontrollable thoughts, worrying or preoccupations
Concentration difficulties or procrastination
Sleeping issues such as insomnia
Increased irritability and mood swings
You might not know that our thoughts, feelings and bodily signs of anxiety are interconnected. By addressing both our psychological and physiological symptoms through a cognitive behavioural approach to hypnotherapy, you are likely to effectively regulate your mind-body systems to bring about calmness and relaxation.
How Does Hypnotherapy Work With Dealing with Anxiety?
Hypnotherapy is particularly effective for managing anxiety as a therapeutic approach because it focuses on both developing physical relaxation skills as well as the psychological calming of the mind.
Through the use of hypnosis, you can safely develop coping strategies in your imagination before you put them into practice in your real life or in vivo as it is known. Whilst in a deeply relaxed state, you are able to explore and test out different, more helpful thinking patterns and behaviours.
You can also gradually expose yourself to fearful or anxiety provoking situations that are your ‘worst case scenarios’ in your mind’s eye that can help extinguish or significantly reduce your anxious thoughts and feelings of panic.
When you have lived and succeeded in life personally and professionally whilst living with anxiety or anxiety-related issues, it can feel risky or daunting to start to address your anxiety symptoms. You can improve your mind-body system and live a more calm, relaxed life without compromising your performance.
You will likely see great improvements in your performance as you are able to concentrate, think more clearly in the moment and start to enjoy your life.
What are Anxiety-Related Issues?
Studies have shown hypnotherapy and clinical hypnosis to be a very effective way of managing anxiety and anxiety-related disorders such as headaches, irritable bowel syndrome and high blood pressure.
Other anxiety-related issues you might experience that are linked to anxiety include:
Stuttering, tics or uncontrollable physical actions
Nail biting, skin picking or hair pulling
Migraines or tension headaches
Sore neck, shoulders or chest (from tension)
Sweating
Stomach aches or nausea
Sleeping issues or insomnia
Trouble concentrating on a task without thinking about the future
If you are experiencing any anxiety related physical issues then always consult your doctor or GP to rule out any underlying health conditions or anything else that might be going on. As you learn to manage your anxiety you will find that these issues normally resolve themselves.
What about Social Anxiety, Assertiveness & Self-Consciousness?
Social anxiety, assertiveness and self-consciousness all stem from the same fear: a fear of judgement, ostracisation from a social group or a rejection of our true self by others.
Hypnotherapy is particularly helpful in moving our focus and perspective outside of ourselves and to learn that these fears are normally irrational (even though they might feel very real to us). You can also develop a range of strategies that you can use in specific situations to help you be more assertive and confident.
Remember that when you have anxious feelings, you are not an ‘anxious person’. You experience anxiety but you are not your anxious thoughts.
You are much more than those physical symptoms and worrisome thoughts. You can break the cycle of anxiety and worry, even if it feels like you have no control over it.
As anxiety is a response to stress from your nervous system, it means that you can learn to regulate the same inbuilt relaxation system to bring grounding and calmness to your life.
You can learn to read your feelings and view them much like data, to inform you about your needs and reactions in a situation. To view them as a passive observer and to create distance from them, so they have less of a hold over you.
It is possible for you to feel differently to feel more present and to be a master of your emotions. With practice and support you can learn a variety of coping strategies and techniques that will bring you quick and lasting anxiety relief, however long you might have been feeling like this.
If you would like help with your anxiety or anxiety-related issue and would like to feel more present and relaxed, book a free consultation call here today to discuss designing a therapy plan for you.
Rachel x