Self Hypnosis and Hypnotherapy for Anxiety

Anxiety can be described as a reaction that anticipates danger. The common symptoms of anxiety can be both physical and psychological, and include raised blood pressure, a higher pulse rate, sweating, disturbing thoughts, disrupted sleep, heart problems, shaking, stomach pains, and so on. There are, of course, many more symptoms that are evidence of anxiety in the psyche, even if they are not always immediately obvious.

Fear is at the root of anxiety and the multitude of changes in the mind and the body is often called the “fight-or-flight” response, because it is the preparation that we go through in order that we can run away from the threat or attack our “attacker”. This ancient response pattern stems from the period since humankind first existed on earth. The situations and threats we face in the modern world are very different to those our ancestors experienced, yet the symptoms remain the same. When the subconscious perceives that we are at risk, that fight-or-flight reflex kicks in.

The world we live in today is so safe by comparison, so why do these inappropriate reactions happen to us? There are a number of reasons:

• We can have a genuinely frightening experience that the mind then uses to make us anxious when we a similar future one occurs. This can be helpful, but too often our fears are misplaced. For example, we may have some unpleasant experience as a child in the woods and we now have a fear of being surrounded by trees.

• We are conditioned by social forces – to give examples: we are taught to believe that failure is bad, that losing face is something to be feared, and that not having the approval of others is something we should be deeply concerned about.

• We are pre-conditioned by genetics to have some fear. This can be either a specific stimulus (a fear of spiders, for instance), or for something broader, such as social approval, which we have noted above can be the product of social forces, but is probably also coded into our genes.

7 Steps to Overcoming Anxiety has been designed to address all three of these problems in a range of ways.

As outlined above, anxiety is a problem when your mind is equipped for action but unable to take it. This is, in effect, also true if you choose not to act rather be unable to. That the problem occurred years ago, or hasn’t even happened yet makes no difference to it – your subconscious mind has no concept of time. The good news is that we can “program” our minds to accept that there are some things that we either can’t deal with or choose not to deal with. By doing this it can let go of such things.

So how can self hypnosis and hypnotherapy help you do this? The first way is that it can help you to relax – the more relaxed you feel the more we can control the emotional brain that causes these anxious feelings. When we remain calm the reasoning part of the mind can help us overcome our emotional response.

In addition, our hypnotherapy recordings can help you to live more in the moment. When you are anxious you are trying to affect something in the future, and because of this your mind cannot have the outcome you are seeking (until you reach that time in the future). When you use a hypnotherapy recording it helps you to be where you are – to enjoy the moment you are in, and to let go of a future that does not yet exist.

Of course, we can use a range of therapeutic techniques - which differs, depending upon the type of anxiety we are treating. Many hypnotherapy based approaches to anxiety focus on suggestions for relaxation and calmness, which can go some way towards reducing tension below the anxiety “threshold”. But for long lasting, permanent change, more needs to be done. This is why our approach to hypnotherapy draws on a range of advanced hypnotherapy techniques to give you the best possible chance of success.

By approaching self hypnosis and hypnotherapy with an open-minded attitude, you can help yourself to break free from anxiety for good!

7 Steps to Overcoming Anxiety deals with the most common symptoms related to anxiety, as mentioned above (please see our answer to the first question). It is ideal for those who suffer with the “typical” feelings associated with anxiety or stress, but it also provides a solid foundation for working on more specific anxiety disorders. We therefore recommend supplementing it with our other self hypnosis recordings if you need to address more specific issues.

If you suffer from Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) then the best course of action would be to start with 7 Steps to Overcoming Anxiety. The course provides a multi-factorial approach to the most common aspects of anxiety, without actually going down the path of dealing with the more intense elements of GAD. Nonetheless, it is a great starting point and can help your condition in many different ways.

We suggest you also supplement 7 Steps to Overcoming Anxiety with one or two of our other self hypnosis audio programs. Since GAD emanates from worry, and this, in turn, usually comes primarily from an intolerance of uncertainty, we highly recommend our Stop Worrying self hypnosis CD / MP3 download, which addresses these issues directly.

Hypnotherapy is not a quick fix approach for GAD, because it is a very complex condition. Depending upon the nature of your condition you may need to work on and address issues from the past with a therapist in person to help you break free from destructive beliefs. But using our self hypnosis recordings can certainly help you address many of the issues associated with GAD and you should feel quite confident about the outcome of this kind of treatment.

Yes, absolutely. 7 Steps to Overcoming Anxiety offers help and support for a wide range of anxiety conditions, including elements related to Social Anxiety Disorder (Social Phobia). Thought processes are the core problem of those with social anxieties and 7 Steps to Overcoming Anxiety includes powerful hypnotherapy sessions that can help you to work on subconscious beliefs that may be the cause of feelings of inadequacy and anxiety.

We also have a very popular self hypnosis CD / MP3 download for social anxiety, titled Overcome Social Anxiety Phobia. This includes a powerful hypnotherapy session that you can either listen to independently or alongside 7 Steps to Overcoming Anxiety.

For the best chance of success we recommend you work on any and every treatable element that contributes to your social anxiety. The following self hypnosis audio programs may be able to give you additional support:

• Boost Your Self Esteem
• Stop Worrying
• Overcome Perfectionism
• Overcome Shyness
• Overcome Self-Consciousness

There are a combination of factors in every case of social anxiety, so please browse our selections and see what suits your needs best. You may also be interested in 7 Steps to Increased Self-Confidence.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is a hugely successful form of psychotherapy known to produce good outcomes with a wide range of conditions. Unlike hypnotherapy, which deals with subconscious thought processes, CBT puts far more emphasis on what we know consciously and focuses strongly on the here-and-now. Since CBT can be particularly successful in the treatment of anxiety, it is a therapy we highly recommend.

Please remember that hypnotherapy is simply the application of ANY form of therapy that uses hypnosis. As such, we do more than just acknowledge and support the use of CBT as a therapy in its own right - we actually incorporate many of its therapeutic concepts within our hypnotherapy recordings, where appropriate. This is why it is important to choose professional self hypnosis CDs or downloads, such as ours, that are based on the best therapeutic approaches.

Yes. If you suffer from anxiety and depression then it is good to address both conditions so that your make progress on both fronts at the same time, because the two often act to counterbalance each other. Hypnotherapy can be very effective in treating depression and we highly recommend you learn more about our Super-7 Series course; 7 Steps to Overcoming Depression.

If you wish to work on only one condition at a time then it is usually better to address the depression problem first, since its reduction or removal will help boost your motivation and leave you with more energy to deal with the problem that remains.

Yes, absolutely. Hypnotherapy is a complementary therapy, meaning it works alongside conventional medicine. We take the view that psychological treatment is the only long-term cure for anxiety, but if you are using medication to quell feelings of anxiety or to help reduce negative thoughts, then this is fine. It is very important that you continue to take your medication unless your doctor (or health care professional) tells you otherwise.

We hope you have found this page useful and that you agree with us, that self hypnosis and hypnotherapy is an excellent choice for treating anxiety, in whatever form it takes. To learn more, we encourage you to read our main FAQs page and to browse our website, which contains a wealth of information on self hypnosis, hypnotherapy and its related topics.