HYPNOTHERAPY AS AN ALTERNATE TREATMENT FOR SOCIAL ANXIETY
As a certified Hypnotherapist and NLP Practitioner, each and every day I provide my clients, or rather give them the gift of hypnotherapy for anxiety relief. Sitting in my office between clientele, I think back to a specific time in my life. A time before I was introduced to hypnosis before I realized that there was a tool out there that could take all my anxiety away.
Of all the anxiety I experienced in my life before I sought out hypnotherapy for anxiety relief, the most debilitating occurrences in my life were when life demanded I be social. Parties, dinners, work functions, and the like.
Ever since I began working with clients, providing hypnotherapy for anxiety relief, and up to this day, there is no bigger commonality day in and day out than clients experiencing social anxiety. Social anxiety is by far the most common issue I address while providing hypnotherapy services for anxiety relief. This comes as no surprise, as the National Institute of Mental Health states 12% of the population in the U.S. suffer from social anxiety.
If you are reading this and are suffering yourself, you may take this as bad news. However, here is the good news. Hypnosis easily remedies the conditions and concerns of social anxiety, quickly and safely. There is no other issue that hypnosis addresses with regards to “fixing”, then the ability and ease to remove social anxiety.
Hypnotherapy for anxiety relief is so effective when removing social anxiety, because of the ability to speak to the subconscious mind. While working at the subconscious level using hypnosis for anxiety relief, the client and I are able to shift limiting beliefs that may be causing anxious emotional responses, reconcile and learn from any traumatic moment in their past that may have triggered the anxiety, as well as quickly insert and replace anxiety with ease and confidence.
ROOT CAUSE #1 - BIOLOGY
We all on some level want to fit in with others. It's our natural human tendency and instinct. Whether we choose our group based on friendships, race, gender, profession, income, or hobbies and interests, each and every one of us forges an identity with those we deem our peers. This has been the case since the beginning of mankind.
When human beings were first starting out, we mostly lived in tribes. The people we considered peers were those we lived with and cooperated with to survive. We leaned on each other for food, shelter, safety, and existence itself.
This meant that if we were rejected from our peer group, it lead to only one thing. Death. Human beings could not survive on their own, which meant the penalty for being ostracized from the group was severe (to say the least).
One can easily conclude that the social anxiety response(s) that are so common today are hard-wired into our biological makeup. In other words, it is a completely natural instinct to greatly desire for our peers, and our interactions with them to go well. While the penalty for being rejected today certainly doesn’t lead to catastrophes, our bodies react as though they may.
ROOT CAUSE #2 - TRAUMATIC EVENT
When working with clients, providing hypnotherapy for anxiety relief, more times than not their anxiety was learned as a result of a traumatic event in their past. Most common examples are moments where someone was teased, or perhaps embarrassed by their peers at a young age. At that moment, an anxiety response was triggered. Combined with the negative belief of “being social leads to negativity and ridicule”, that anxiety response can be present for a lifetime.
When providing hypnotherapy for anxiety relief, the client and myself easily go back to that event when the triggered response of anxiety was first learned. From there, we simply unlearn.
From the place of a wise adult, my client(s) are able to learn from everything that happened.
“Just because I was teased for my new shoes, doesn’t mean that I am less than”.
“Simply because I was bullied at 9, doesn’t mean that humans are looking to ridicule me”.
On and on I could go.
When my clients are able to take on and insert these learnings at the subconscious level, they are easily able to file away the event. Learn, and leave behind. In doing so, moving forward with new, more beneficial perspectives, the client can experience social events and finally enjoy those moments they have been missing. These newfound learnings and perspectives are incredible, and one of the main reasons hypnotherapy for anxiety relief is amazingly effective.
WHY SOCIAL ANXIETY OFTEN LEADS TO DEPRESSION
We all seek connection with others, as feelings of relatedness and belonging are vital to our mental and physical well-being. Sure, some people are more introverted than others, and for them, isolation feels more healthy and normal. However, those that thrive on being social in groups need these moments in order to feel complete. This is why social anxiety can be extremely damaging to one’s emotional health.
While working with clients and giving them the gift of hypnotherapy for anxiety, I encounter those who require a social connection. Their personalities are such that being social and outgoing is what serves their mood and soul.
When these same clients avoid being social due to anxiety responses and fear, they do not receive and experience moments that will truly give them joy. They require a social connection for their well-being, yet isolate out of fear.
This combination is detrimental as those avoidant traits can easily send clients into depression. Think of it this way if you will, if you were someone that thrives on warm weather on sunshine, living in the arctic would lead to a disappointing existence. Clients seeking hypnotherapy for anxiety relief while social are typically the most depressed. Extroverted at their core level, by isolating due to anxiety they are lacking nourishment leading to fulfillment.
A SIMPLE FIX TO SOCIAL ANXIETY - PROGRAMS
As stated, working with clients who are seeking hypnotherapy for anxiety relief is my most favorite client to work with. This is because the fix is simple, and the results are life-changing. Immediately clients report greater feelings of personal well-being. Confidence ensues, and life finally begins.
While working with clients providing hypnotherapy for anxiety relief, I first discover which areas of their life actually feel good. The client and I divulge and explore each aspect of their mind and life, to determine which activities and moments typically feel good. These “feel good” moments can be either with friends or a partner, alone enjoying an activity or something that is as simple as cooking. The context doesn’t matter. What’s important is to recognize that there are moments in one’s life when they feel connected, strong, and calm.
Once these moments are discovered, I put my clients into a beautiful state of deep trance. I effortlessly allow themselves to be placed in that moment. I have them feel the freeing emotions and notice the soothing thoughts. To pay attention to everything they are experiencing, the details if you will.
The thoughts, the colors, the vibrations in their body, and the sounds they hear when living in this peaceful anxiety-free state.
While in trance, I have them take all the characteristics of this peaceful state, then I have them transfer them to the formerly powerful state that produces anxiety. They are easily able to attach the feelings and stimulus from the empowering event to being social. Just like that, being social becomes a completely different experience. This is the power of using hypnotherapy for anxiety relief.
The subconscious is able to insert and implant positive feelings, visuals, and sounds into social occurrences.
The amazing technique I use above while administering hypnotherapy for anxiety relief is possible with the realization that we are running programs. Various programs allow for unique experiences.
A healthy program is one of connection with a partner, or pure joy when riding a bike. An anxiety-filled program is one of being social.
While in hypnosis, I simply allow my clients to attach the characteristics from one program and implant them into another. Changing the hardwiring immediately.
BELIEF ALTERING
To put the icing on the cake while working on why clients seek hypnotherapy for anxiety relief, I provide immediate shifts in belief systems. Disparaging beliefs about oneself or the world are likely to exist. Hypnosis easily allows for an immediate shift. An upgrade of you will.
Beliefs are stored at the subconscious level. They can either be fruitful or a hindrance. Hypnosis easily allows the client to view themselves and the world from a fresh new perspective.
“Being social equals danger” quickly turns into “I am safe, especially while around others and those closest to me”.
“I am not good enough and will be ridiculed” shifts to “I have always been good enough, I accept myself even though I’ve made mistakes”.
When limiting beliefs are removed, the dark turns into the light, and the limited with the truly empowered unlimited. Hypnotherapy for anxiety relief is the quickest way towards that light.
CONCLUSION
Working with the subconscious on an emotional level is where the change occurs. It’s where the problem, as well as the solution, lies. Anxiety may be hard-wired, and also learned. The beautiful thing is, we can easily rewire using hypnotherapy for anxiety, and we can just as easily unlearn.
If you would like to read more about anxiety and how to heal, please read this.
If you would like free access to an amazing technique you can do at home to free yourself of anxiety, please watch this informative video:
Please contact me if you would like the quickest and easiest way out of social anxiety or any other anxieties you are experiencing. Simply send me an email, or find me at BradPlotkin.com. I look forward to hearing from you!
Brad Plotkin
Certified Hypnotherapist & NLP Practitioner
305.778.9236
