Hypnosis for anxiety: How it works and what to expect during treatment
According to the anxiety anxiety and depression association of America, anxiety disorders are the most common mental disorders in the U.S. Furthermore, it is said that only 1 in 3 of those suffering from this affliction receive treatment.
In my practice, unfortunately, the most common form a treatment I provide is hypnosis for anxiety relief. I say unfortunately because it still astounds me how so many can live in a state of anxiety and fear.
Some of my clients who are seeking hypnosis for anxiety relief suffer from momentary anxiety, such as while being anxious or before a test, and others experience every day anxiety where there is a constant worry about life and all its components.
As a hypnotist who provides hypnosis for anxiety relief, I understand just how crippling this affliction can be. I also understand that we are not born anxious even though we are all equipped with the anxiety mechanism. Furthermore, as someone who provides hypnosis for anxiety relief, I fully comprehend the difference between needed anxieties to ensure our survival, and the anxieties that have arisen due to negative beliefs and life’s experience.
My clients seeking hypnosis for anxiety relief are all educated on their anxiety symptoms. Why they have them, where it came from, how it began, and finally how we can simply say goodbye to those aspects of their anxiety that are simply just not needed. Education leads to awareness which then leads to healing.
Hypnosis is a quick and safe solution for the removal of anxiety and the worrisome thoughts associated with them. Hypnosis for anxiety relief is incredibly effective because it affords the client the ability to shift thoughts and emotional responses at the deepest levels of the subconscious. By shifting the way we see ourselves, our past, and essentially shift our belief systems about how we are able to navigate our future, all symptoms of anxiety can be completely removed. Sometimes, within minutes.
We Need Anxiety
You may be wondering, why would somebody who provides hypnosis for anxiety relief make a statement as contradicting as we need anxiety?
As someone who provides hypnosis for anxiety cessation I understand that some levels of anxiety are needed, which is why we are all able to experience it from time to time. Anxiety is your body’s way of alerting us to danger causing you to take action.
Furthermore, the truth is that we are all descendants from people who were able to experience high levels of anxiety, which of course were passed down to us from generation to generation.
Anxiety is a signal in your body that alerts you of danger, which at times is necessary to ensure survival. For example, if you were home alone in the middle of the night and you heard people shuffling about in your garage, you can guarantee that would trigger an anxiety response. That anxiety is your body’s signal that you are in danger and should take action to ensure your survival.
After all, it is far more advantageous to be anxious than dead.
Our descendants were equipped with the automatic survival system we call anxiety, that allowed them to keep a look out for dangers in the wild that could kill them. Those that experienced anxiety and listened to it were the ones who survived.
As you can see, we require anxiety to ensure our safety and survival.
However, those seeking hypnosis for anxiety removal experience anxiety in situations that do not cause for it. In other words, the biological mechanism known as anxiety that is designed to keep one alive and thriving is alerted to perceived dangers that are simply not present. When normal every day situations are causing clients seeking hypnosis for anxiety removal to feel afraid and worried, the quality of life can be drastically reduced. Often times those seeking hypnosis for anxiety removal are depressed and lonely due to the inability to live a normal healthy existence.
The Causes
As we have discussed, we are all blessed with the emotional survival mechanism known as anxiety. Furthermore, those seeking hypnosis for anxiety cessation experience anxiety for situations that not only are safe, but should be enjoyed with positive emotion(s) such as joy, contentment, and excitement.
As a hypnotist who provides hypnosis for anxiety cessation, I have learned through my years of working with my clients that overactive anxiety comes mostly from five sources:
Learned from others
Trauma/Ptsd
Negative beliefs
Avoiding Problems & Requirements
News & Media
We are all living in the information age. At the click of a keyboard we can find the answer to any question we ever wanted to ask, or communicate with someone that lives half way around the world in an instant.
Also, we are able to take in the news of the world constantly if we so choose. Wether it be from the tv, our tablets, or our phone we are bombarded with the news of the entire world at all times.
While having access to an excess of information has its advantages, there are some disastrous disadvantages that come along as well.
Throughout history human beings were mostly able to be concerned about the people in their own communities or villages. Due to the fact that there were no media outlets, the “news” consisted of what was happening in their immediate vicinities. Friends, families, and neighbors were the primary concern and focus.
In our current times, we have access to the dramas and news of the entire world. By checking into the news we can see tragedies that occur 3 states away, or 3 time zones. In other words, my clients seeking hypnosis for anxiety relief may have everything status quo and easy in their own lives, yet are concerning themselves with the tragic occurrence that takes place in countries they have never been to and will never go.
The news provides us with the drama and tragedies that are occurring in the world, and since we can witness and be made aware of them all in our current information age with heightened frequency our bodies produce an anxiety response as if those tragedies were actually occurring in our own backyard.
Why do we need to know about the bombing in Bangladesh, or the traffic accident that occurred in a state that would take 7 hours to fly to?
We don’t!
Those clients that seek hypnosis for anxiety cessation that watch an excess of news leading to heightened fears and anxiety on a daily basis.
Learned Anxiety
Many clients seeking hypnosis for anxiety cessation are surprised to learn that their anxieties might not even be theres. In fact, through simple discovery and the consultation process the client often discovers that their anxieties were simply given to them by a family member or caregiver.
In a sense, the anxiety they experience is simply a “learned” behavior or response. A common example of a learned anxiety is a child witnessing her mother have an anxiety attack when a roach or spider became visible in the home. At that point, the child “learns” that the appropriate response in such a situation would be to panic and flee at all costs.
The good news about learned anxieties and their symptoms is that they can be unlearned just as easily. Often, clients seeking hypnosis for anxiety removal can shed a substantial amount of their anxiety responses in certain situations by simply acquiring the knowledge that their anxiety is essentially, not their own.
Trauma & PTSD
Unfortunately, one of the leading causes of anxiety for clients seeking hypnosis for anxiety relief is due to traumatic events that have occurred in their life.
As we go through life, it’s safe to say that we all encounter moments that are incredibly problematic and unsettling. As a result of experiencing moments of distress, anxiety in similar situations are likely to be the result.
A simple example would be someone who has been driving for 20 years with zero symptoms of anxiety, who then suddenly gets into an accident. From that point forward they may become riddled with anxiety each time they get behind the wheel.
A child who was bullied on the playground can take social anxiety with them that moment on, unfortunately often for a lifetime.
Negative Beliefs
Clients seeking hypnosis for anxiety relief often have beliefs about themselves that are disempowering. Negative internalized beliefs of being inadequate or unable to survive problematic situations often cause a general anxiety that can be felt even in the most placid of moments.
Avoiding Problems & Requirements
Many clients who seek hypnosis for anxiety relief have developed a habit of avoidance of tasks or situations that make them uncomfortable or that they would rather not do.
These tasks or requirements include such situations as chores, difficult conversations, or decisions that will change their life.
These requirements that need to be addressed can be viewed simply as problems that need to be solved. In a sense, life is mostly composed of problem solving on a daily basis. Each day we have to solve the problem of money by working, or solve the problem of hunger by going to the grocery store.
For clients seeking hypnosis for anxiety relief they often avoid many of the problems and requirements causing extreme anxiety at the mere thought of tackling their obligations.
The problem with avoidance is that those requirements tend to linger in our minds. They circle us mentally like planets circle the sun. Knowing that they are out there waiting for our attention can cause a feeling of constant anxiety as we continue to push them away.
Furthermore, avoiding problem solving and making difficult choices and decisions causes those tasks to magnify in difficulty. For example, if you were to leave a bill on your desk as you choose to avoid its contents, the repercussions will multiply. At first the bill is simply a monetary requirement. Before to long there are late fees associated with them. Let the bill sit a little while longer and possibly threats of repossession or the removal of services provided may be the result. Continue on and creditors will be reaching out threatening punishment which will change your financing opportunities in disastrous ways.
What was first a simple problem to be solved became something far more disastrous due to the avoidance creating an excess of anxiety and its symptoms.
Compulsive Behaviors
Clients seeking hypnosis for anxiety relief will typically engage in compulsive and disastrous behaviors. Behaviors that lead to a lower quality of life that often trigger further anxieties.
Compulsive behaviors can also be viewed as “distractors”. These distracting behaviors are alluring for the clients seeking hypnosis for anxiety as they provide short term and temporary relief from their biological anxiety response.
Common distracting behaviors include drinking, drug use, eating, shopping, gambling, and the like.
The inherent problem with distracting and compulsive behaviors is that they never satisfy the inherent need that is causing the anxiety.
For example, if the client seeking hypnosis for anxiety removal is feeling unsafe and intimidated around others due to a belief that “people will get mad at them” or “everyone will judge them”, there is no amount of drug use or alcohol that can alter that belief. The distractor simply provides a temporary relief from their pain, but does nothing to either shift the belief or increase the clients ability to belief in their own worth or strength.
If a client is anxious because they are without an intimate partner and afraid they will die alone, eating excessively at night will only provide short term relief from the problem.
“How many pieces of cheesecake do I have to eat before I get into a loving relationship”?
There is no answer because clearly the question doesnt make sense.
The result of anxiety for many clients seeking hypnosis for anxiety relief are addictions leading to an overall reduction in the quality of life.
The Power Of Hypnosis
Those seeking hypnosis for anxiety relief can find immediate changes, upgrades, and shifts to their physiological responses by utilizing the healing power of hypnosis.
Hypnosis separates itself as the leader in treatment for anxiety due to its ability to work directly with the subconscious mind. Hypnosis allows for changes at the subconscious level allowing clients to completely change how they view themselves and their world.
The Subconscious Mind
For simplicity’s sake and to easily explain the power of hypnosis for anxiety relief its important to understand how the mind is oriented.
There are two parts to the mind, the conscious and the subconscious mind.
Clients seeking hypnosis for anxiety cessation quickly learn that the conscious mind is only responsible for 5% of our daily activities. Requirements such as short term memory, analytical thinking and problem solving, and even will power are all responsibilities of the conscious mind.
What makes up the other 95%? You guessed it, the subconscious mind.
The subconscious mind is where our identity is stored. The subconscious in a sense is who, and what we are. All of our beliefs are stored in the subconscious. All of our memories, behaviors, emotional responses, and thought patterns are all stored in the subconscious mind.
What makes hypnosis the leading remedy for anxiety is its ability to alter and shift beliefs and physical responses at the subconscious level.
When we are born the subconscious is essentially a blank slate. Then, as we age have experiences certain beliefs and emotional responses are stored in the subconscious. As the years go by, all of the contents within the subconscious essentially make up what we call our “identity”. Again, the subconscious mind is composed of who and what we are.
As you may have already realized, when less than optimal beliefs are acquired and stored, or certain emotional reactions and behaviors are stored in the subconscious there can be disastrous effects.
To use the example from earlier, the child who gets bullied on the playground may form the beliefs “I am not good enough”, “people will hurt me”, or “groups of people will cause me pain”. These beliefs of course lead to social anxiety.
Those seeking hypnosis for anxiety relief may realistically and consciously know that they will be safe when partaking in their work function or birthday party, however at the subconscious if they still hold the belief “groups of people will cause me pain” anxiety will be the result.
This is the power of the subconscious mind.
For further information about how the hypnosis effects the subconscious mind, please watch this video below:
The Critical Factor
Clients seeking hypnosis for anxiety relief learn that between their conscious mind and their subconscious mind there is a component known as the critical factor.
The critical factor can be known as the guardian and the gate, the protector of the subconscious. This protector is very valuable to us, as it protects the contents that make up our identity. To have a clear and defined identity is advantageous to our lives and well being.
For example, if your identity was fluid and constantly changing, your life would be essentially chaotic. You wouldn’t want to believe in christianity one day, then Judaism the next. You wouldn’t want to be a lawyer on Monday, then suddenly an accountant on Tuesday. Our identity needs to be stored and secure to ensure our stability and success in life. The critical factor ensures of this stability by protecting our identity.
However, there is an inherent problem to the development and presence of our critical factor. When the beliefs and emotional responses our critical factor is protecting and keeping secure are detrimental to our well being, our life and health can suffer greatly.
For example, if the belief “I am not worthy of love” is stored in our subconscious and protected by the critical factor, simply making the conscious statement “I am worthy and deserve love” will not get into the subconscious. Which is why we can think something intellectually, and yet still behave in the same manner as the habitual emotional responses locked into the subconscious run the show.
Clients seeking hypnosis for anxiety relief can tell themselves consciously they are safe and people like them, however if that belief is not allowed into the subconscious due to the critical factor blocking new information that social event will remain anxiety producing.
Hypnosis & Inductions
The government defines hypnosis as the removal of the critical factor. Hypnotists are trained in delivering what are known as “inductions”. These inductions are merely a series of steps that the client follows guiding them into a hypnotic state, otherwise known as “trance”.
This hypnotic state allows for the critical factor to simply take a break, to go out to lunch if you will. When the critical factor has been removed, clients seeking hypnotherapy for anxiety relief are easily able to accept the suggestions the hypnotist provides.
Hypnotists are able to deliver what is known as “the establishment of selective and appropriate thinking”.
Meaning, the hypnotist provides the client with everything they would prefer to believe and feel. Once these positive suggestions are applied and delivered deep into the subconscious due to the critical factor on a vacation, those clients seeking hypnosis for anxiety relief experience immediate shifts.
Inductions are safe, and non-invasive. Furthermore, not only are they safe but they create a state of mind and body that allow the client to feel emotions of ease and euphoria.
They Hypnotic Process
The first step for clients seeking hypnosis for anxiety relief is to meet for a consultation. These consultations can either take place in person, on a face-time meeting, or over the phone.
The consultation is one of the most important steps towards the removal of anxiety, as the hypnotist is able to determine what beliefs care causing the anxiety, and when they first began. This knowledge is the blueprint for determine the action steps needed by the hypnotist for assisting clients who seek hypnosis for anxiety relief.
The amount of sessions required varies from client to client, as everybody has their own version of issues that need to be addressed.
Some may simply feel anxious due to an unfortunate moment in their past, others may have experienced multiple moments of distress, while at the same time harboring many ill beliefs about themselves and the world. The severity of the anxiety and the amount of issues causing them will determine how many sessions are required by the client seeking hypnosis for anxiety relief.
Sessions can last anywhere from 30 to 60 minutes (typically), and clients are expected to return on a weekly basis to assure effectiveness of treatment.
Expectations
For those seeking hypnosis for anxiety relief they can expect to see results immediately. In fact, even the consultation which consists of exploration and education begins the process of anxiety removal.
Some clients who seek hypnosis for anxiety relief experience a 99% shift in anxiety responses immediately following session 1, and others simply improve. Everybody reacts differently to the treatment and has their own time frame. However, with each and every client seeking hypnosis for anxiety relief dramatic results are achieved with regularity.
Conclusion
Those seeking hypnosis for anxiety relief are able to leave behind the old and replace with the new. Due to hypnosis removing the critical factor deep levels of change can occur at the subconscious level. When are identity is upgraded and we can see ourselves as strong, confident, and capable, anxiety and the negative beliefs associated with them become a memory of the past.
If you are struggling with anxiety and its detrimental effects do not hesitate to contact me, I would love to take the time to speak with you, and get you started on your anxiety free life, today.
Thank you for reading and I’ll speak to you soon, feeling well.
-Brad
305.778.9236
