Hypnotherapy for anxiety is an increasingly popular way of treating anxiety and a number of other conditions such as weight loss and smoking cessation.
Hypnotherapy is essentially an altered state of consciousness that makes you relaxed and suggestible. Its aim is to reprogram the brain, reprogramming any negative thoughts and replacing them with positive ones.
People who suffer from anxiety tend to focus on what can go wrong, which causes the body to experience the symptoms linked to fighting or flight mode – increased heart rate, sweating, feelings of panic, etc. The aim of hypnotherapy for anxiety is to teach the patient how to relax so that this mental state occurs less frequently.
How Does Hypnosis Work?
The hypnotic trance itself can be induced by a variety of methods, from simply sitting quietly with closed eyes to listening to a recording of one’s voice instructing one to relax.
The most effective method for achieving a trance is called the ‘Induction.’ During an Induction, the hypnotist instructs the subject into a state of relaxation that enables them to absorb positive suggestions easily. This, in turn, will assist in reprogramming the mind to deal in the future with negative thought patterns in different ways. Hypnotherapy for anxiety works in this manner and has proved successful when practiced regularly over time (at least six sessions).
A typical hypnotherapy session using this technique will be between 40 minutes and an hour, depending on your requirements. Each session should be recorded, ideally using video recording equipment. This is because it aids the patient to see that they are in a trance by listening to their voice and watching what they say and do during the session.
These sessions offer a unique opportunity to train the mind and make changes positively. Hypnosis can also be used for self-hypnosis without a therapist present using audio recordings downloaded from the internet, many of which are free! However, this should only be done under supervision by either an experienced therapist or someone who has been taught how to hypnotize themselves.
Hypnotherapy for anxiety offers some benefits. Firstly, hypnosis can be a very relaxing experience where you may enter a trance-like state and become unaware of the external world. In addition, some research has shown that listening to a hypnotist’s voice even when not in a trance can positively influence how we think and feel about ourselves.
This is why people who suffer from anxiety or panic attacks often benefit from being exposed to calming words before, during, and after an attack. The patient learns to associate these ‘cues’ with relaxation, and this leads them to respond differently during future episodes of anxiety. In fact, it works both ways – once therapy has been completed, the positive experiences move nearer the surface of your mind so that they come out more naturally without having to go through a formal induction. This means that you will notice when something triggers anxiety and learn to respond to it with calmness rather than the old flight or fight response.
