Popular Applications of Hypnotherapy - Anxiety

After eighteen years practice of hypnotherapy in Sydney I have found that the most popular applications of Hypnotherapy have been for Anxiety, Insomnia, Smoking and Weight Loss People have often asked me “how does Hypnotherapy work to resolve these issues?” In response to this question I have given a brief outline that will help to answer this question. Hypnotherapy for Anxiety Anxiety can range from mild to severe and can sometimes lead to panic attacks. Mild anxiety is often good because it can serve as a motivator or spur to action. For example if you have to sit an exam tomorrow and you feel anxious about it, it may motivate you to a revise your course notes so that the material is more fresh in your mind the next day. It is when anxiety begins to interfere with normal activities or prevents someone from enjoying a normal life that it becomes a problem. Anxious patients often are not aware of the source or the cause of their anxiety. Sometimes anxiety can be the result of prolonged periods of mental or emotional stress. During the initial consultation I will inquire about the nature of the anxiety, when it first began, and record the severity of the symptoms. If the first incidence or root cause of the anxiety and panic can be discovered, this may speed up the treatment and subsequent recovery. When no source or cause is uncovered I offer patients reassurance that once they begin to relax, the anxiety will disappear. Panic attacks can occur as the result of a cyclical process referred to as the “ABC” of anxiety and panic: An anxious thought “A” gives rise to unpleasant symptoms or sensations “B” which then create more anxiety “C”. In turn “C” leads to more anxious thoughts “A”, which intensifies the symptoms “B” and so on. Symptoms are very real for the sufferer: Palpitations, cold sweaty hands, weakness in the legs etc ... Systematic desensitisation is another useful tool that is used to reduce anxiety and panic attacks. Here a hierarchy of scenarios is created and graded by the patient from least threatening to most threatening. The patient is then placed under hypnosis where he is presented with the least threatening of the scenarios. The patient, still under hypnosis, is asked to reduce the level of anxiety associated with that scenario, until it is gone. By working progressively through the scenarios the patient is then brought to the stage where he can face some of these situations in real life free of anxiety. In the next article I will discuss hypnotherapy in Sydney for Insomnia.