Stress and Anxiety
Modern day living can place great responsibilities and demands on us, and this has resulted in 1 in 7 of us suffering from stress and anxiety at any one time in the UK and a significant number of people now are seeking help with stress and anxiety, and related conditions, such as certain skin conditions, irritable bowel syndrome, and headaches or migraines.
Anxiety is a fear or concern that is exaggerated, and is out of proportion to the situation and is related to our fight or flight response. This is a primal response that protects us against perceived threats in our environment, so if our subconscious mind thinks we are in danger it will trigger a rush of adrenaline. It is this response that causes your heart to beat faster, pumping oxygen around your body to help you fight or run away. You may feel as if you are on high alert as well, unable to calm down or relax, your mind may race and you feel unable to focus or quieten down. Research shows that prolonged exposure to stress related hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol can lead to memory problems, a weakened immune system, weaker bones, increased blood pressure, and even reduced fertility.
Hypnotherapy can help reduce stress and anxiety by helping you identify how you would like to be and helping you identify the steps to get there through a range of different techniques. By unlocking your own innate potential to break free of negative thought patterns, you can react in a positive and confident way to situations that have caused you stress in the past.
Confidence
Confidence affects our successes in life, our relationships, and all our endeavors, and the simple truth is; the more confident we feel, the more likely we are to achieve our desired goals. With this in mind, it is a shame to realise that most of us struggle with a lack of confidence at some time in our life, and this can mean that we do not always achieve what we are able to, and can feel that we have been held back in life. This is why improving one’s confidence level is a goal for so many people.
You are not just born with confidence, it is not just something you either have, or lack. Confidence is something that can be developed, even by the most unconfident person. The feeling of confidence can have a major impact on the quality of our lives and it is a positive step forward to increase it. Hypnosis is an excellent way to do this, and as long as you have a commitment to make that positive change it can bring about results much more quickly and easily than traditional therapy or self-determination.
Motivation
Whether it is in our business life, sport, career, or any other area of our life, to be successful we need to be motivated to succeed. Many different theories exist on how motivation can be developed, but there is one theory that really resonates as true, and that is that we need goals. However, if our goals are not well defined we often feel we need to constantly find ways to motivate ourselves. A goal of becoming more motivated is not good enough. If you have a goal of achieving something specific in your life then the motivation will probably take care of itself. It is essentially the end product of a suitably focused mind.
There are many different ideas about what drives us to succeed and what can hold us back, and the current thinking is that the reasons for our motivation, or lack of, lies deep within our subconscious mind. Hypnotherapy can help us motivate by identifying our goals and the steps we need to take, creating a positive mindset to achieve a positive outcomes. In order to achieve our goals we need to change our long held beliefs such as; “I’m not able to do it”, or “this is out of my reach”. Hypnotherapy can help us overcome these beliefs by helping to build confidence and self esteem, increasing focus, and therefore increasing motivation.
Fears and Phobias
A phobia is a persistent fear of an object or a situation, and people with a phobia will often go to great lengths to avoid the object or situation they are afraid of. The reaction to the phobia is often disproportional to the actual danger posed and is generally irrational. There are 2 different types of phobia: Simple phobia where we react negatively when we are faced with the thing that is causing us fear, e.g. the dentist, a spider, or a needle. Complex phobias are a continual feeling of fear and anxiety.
Hypnotherapy can teach us new habits and ways of behaving and phobias can be overcome using hypnosis to be more relaxed and calm in stressful situations, without the phobia being triggered. Hypnotherapy can help to create new positive habits and patterns of behaviour, and this will override the phobic behavioural patterns. Hypnotherapy communicates with the subconscious, filtering through how you want your life to be, rather than how your currently is.
Habits
A habit is an unwanted behaviour or addiction that we do not feel we have control over. These behaviours can affect us negatively, making us unhappy, or even causing a risk to our health and well being.
There is good news though, and that is that we do have control and can change how we react in certain situations. Hypnotherapy works to resolve bad habits and behaviours, as it bypasses our critical conscious mind and deals directly with our subconscious. Hypnotherapy can help with habits such as smoking, overeating, nail biting, teeth grinding, hair pulling, plus any other habitual behaviour we might have.
Sports Achievement
Competitive sport involves huge amounts of physical control and mental concentration. It is now accepted that there is a profound difference between a sports person who is supremely confident and one who doubts their abilities.
Hypnotherapy can help improve sporting techniques by helping you to remove triggers and negative responses that can be the result of pre-competition nerves or self- belief issues. By working with your hypnotherapist you can become more relaxed in competition and be more focused on what you want to achieve.
Panic Attacks
Panic attacks are surprisingly common and can happen suddenly and feel overwhelming. When experiencing a panic attack people feel an intense fear and sense of dread, and this can be very frightening. It is normal for us to experience mild anxiety when we need to move out of our comfort zone, for example if we are going to an interview. However, if our subconscious perceives the danger as greater than it really is our fight or flight response kicks in and this normal reaction is amplified by many times.
The symptoms of a panic attack can include:
- Feelings of fear or severe anxiety
- Racing heartbeat or palpitations
- Sweating
- Feeling faint or ill
- A change in breathing pattern, usually shallow or rapid
Hypnotherapy can help you to remain calm and relaxed when faced with different situations, and can help you to reduce your general stress and anxiety so that you are better able to cope with situations that mean you need to move out of your comfort zone. Through hypnotherapy you can take back control of your life and emotions, as well as increase your confidence levels and get back to your real self.
Weight Management
There are many reasons why we can struggle with our weight; life can be busy and hectic meaning we don’t have time to shop for healthier fresh food or prepare it, let alone savour eating it. We might have feelings of of low self-esteem, which can lead to self-sabotaging behaviour. We might have unhelpful beliefs around food, such as needing to eat everything on the plate, or unhelpful habits, such as finishing off food the children leave.
Hypnotherapy can help by motivating by us to make positive changes in the way we think and feel about ourselves and the world at large, helping us to manage our weight. By dealing with the underlying issues that get in the way of managing our weight we feel more motivated to make helpful choices about food and exercise.
Public Speaking
The thought of having to speak in public can cause instant fear in most of us. Research suggests that this is one of the most common fears in the UK, and this includes making wedding speeches, or giving a presentation at work, even if it only to a few people that we know. When faced with speaking in public we can start to shake, our minds go blank, we might feel sick, and we probably feel like running away. The fear of public speaking is a form of social phobia and occurs when our “fight or flight” response takes over, causing us believe that we are in some kind of danger that we need to escape from.
There are many reasons why we respond in this way and these can include; a lack of confidence or self esteem, self-consciousness, not wanting to make a mistake or say the wrong thing, not wanting to embarrass ourselves, not wanting to be the centre of attention, thinking we will be laughed at, or thinking we will be judged.
Hypnotherapy can be highly successful in helping people with a fear of public speaking. It can build confidence levels and allow you to remain calm and relaxed, while developing new positive ways of thinking and feeling. In your sessions we will work together to help you develop a more positive approach and develop a different way to respond.
Low Mood
Mild depression can make us feel like there is nothing that can make a positive difference. This is not the case and taking that very decision to do something about it can be significant in itself. It is something that is experienced by millions of people at one time or another in their lives, with 1 in 4 people experiencing some form of mental health problem, commonly anxiety and depression, in the UK.
Mild depression, although it might not prevent us from going about our normal day to day life, can make just about everything more of a struggle to do and cope with. Things that we used to enjoy and value no longer seem worth the effort. In severe depression we may even feel life is no longer worth living. Diagnosis for depression needs to be carried out by a properly qualified medical professional; e.g. your GP. Hypnotherapy can be used effectively alongside conventional medical interventions such as antidepressants and Annette advises her clients to continue their treatment with their healthcare professional whilst undertaking hypnotherapy sessions..
Insomnia
One in three people will suffer from insomnia, in one form or another, at some point in their lives. The symptoms of insomnia can include difficulty in getting to sleep, waking up during the night and not being able to get back to sleep easily, or waking up earlier than you need to in the morning. If this persists it can negatively impact on our well-being and the effects of prolonged insomnia can range from fatigue, lack of motivation, irritability, reduced problem-solving skills, inability to cope with stress, reduced immunity and weight gain.
Good quality sleep is vital as it is not only a time for the body to restore itself and restore energy levels, but also allows us to enter our dream state, or REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep, which is where we solidify our learning and organise our memories. REM also replenishes feel-good hormones such as serotonin and dopamine, which boost your mood. As anxiety is often the cause of insomnia we can quickly find ourselves in a vicious circle. The worse our sleep becomes, the less able we are to cope, and the more we worry. The fact we are not sleeping also adds to this as we will worry about that too! This can be really debilitating and can seriously affect our ability to function normally or enjoy life.
Hypnotherapy can help to improve our sleep patterns by addressing any underlying stress and anxiety and helping us to find better ways of coping with problems. It can also provide us with gentle relaxation prior to going to sleep. Depending on the person, change can be immediate or sometimes takes a little longer, it all depends on what issues you have surrounding your life. As with all hypnotherapy insomnia is dealt with in collaboration with your therapist, and you may need to make changes as suggested to help alleviate stress.
Anger Management
Anger is something that most people have experienced and is a normal, often healthy, human emotion, and it exists to enable us to protect ourselves against a perceived threat or potential attack. However, if this powerful emotion is mismanaged it can cause us problems. When anger gets out of control it can have disastrous consequences, including damaged relationships, problems at work, domestic abuse, road rage, violence, and negatively affects the quality of life for all the individuals concerned.
When we become angry we release hormones, such as adrenaline, into the bloodstream and our heart and blood pressure increase. We release the tension created by these physical changes, usually verbally or physically. Some people do not release this tension, however, and will instead suppress their anger, and this can lead to an emotional build-up that leads them to “explode”.
Hypnotherapy can help us to reduce our anger by taking greater emotional control. We can learn to recognise when we are becoming angry and find different ways of expressing and releasing the anger. By becoming more relaxed and calm in our day to day lives we can respond to stressful situations in a calm and measured way, rather than lashing out, shouting, or becoming violent.
Smoking Cessation
Through hypnotherapy the incredible power of our imagination can be used to create a future for ourselves that doesn’t include smoking. The creation of this preferred future can be highly positive and empowering, and stopping smoking becomes a truly positive choice that means you can regain control, not just of the smoking habit, but also of your life.
Your physical addiction to cigarettes is only 10% of the story. The other 90% consists of habit and how you think and feel about cigarettes. This physical addiction can be overcome after just one week. Imagine… How different would your life be if you gave up smoking? What would you gain? This is your motivation to quit and it is important to understand our motivation to stop smoking and remain a non-smoker.
As with anything, success is not guaranteed. However, you will receive a hypnotherapy/relaxation CD and handout pack to assist you on your journey. Although only one session is usually required, Annette offers additional telephone support for 12 months after you have had your session.