If you are experiencing anxiety, you know what a vicious cycle it can be. The more stress and worry you experience, the worse it becomes. If anxiety is left untreated, it can lead to a more advanced stage known as panic attacks or anxiety attacks. Luckily hypnotherapy is extremely effective at relieving anxiety and panic attacks.
When you think of hypnosis, you probably think of the entertainment at county fairs and Las Vegas stage shows. This type of hypnosis is different then hypnotherapy. The hypnosis at stage shows is often not actual hypnosis but merely a good excuse for the participants to act like hams.
Hypnotherapy, on the other hand, is an accepted practice for the treatment of anxiety. Hypnotherapy is approved by the American Medical Association, the American Psychiatric Association, and the American Psychological Association.
What is hypnotherapy?
Hypnotherapy or clinical hypnosis is a means of “reprogramming” the mind. If you imagine some sort of brainwashing, this isn’t the case at all. The hypnotherapist merely suggests better thought processes and actions to the client while the client is in a deeply relaxed state.
Hypnosis also does not cause a loss of consciousness as often believed. The client hears everything that is said and can emerge from the trance at any time they choose.
Why is hypnotherapy so effective for anxiety?
Anxiety begins as a reaction to a stressful event. This reaction repeated enough times becomes a habit. Anxiety becomes a sort of never-ending cycle where one event causes nervousness, which leaves the person tired and unable to handle additional stress, which leads to more worry and so forth.
Hypnotherapy, first of all, is a state of deep relaxation for the mind and body. The relaxation alone helps a client break the cycle of constant anxiety because, under hypnosis, the client may feel truly calm and relaxed for the first time in years.
Once the client is fully relaxed, the hypnotherapist can then suggest new positive behaviors and habits to the client’s subconscious mind. These new habits and beliefs can efficiently steer the client towards learning to relax under pressure allowing for the release of stress and anxiety daily through exercise or deep breathing.
Hypnotherapy is effective at treating anxiety through several other approaches as well. If the hypnotherapist trained in NLP or EFT, he or she could provide the client with even more proven ways of clearing the symptoms of anxiety permanently.
