Hypnotherapy for Anxiety and Panic Attacks
Forms of Anxiety
Panic Attacks
How hypnotherapy can help
How many sessions will you need
Clients feedback
Please note that many other testimonials on the "Clients
Feedback" page have an underlying anxiety as the reason for more specific
symptoms and issues
Anxiety, including the strongest form of
anxiety causing panic attacks is one of most common reasons clients see my help.
There are many forms of anxiety; some are very specific, like phobias,
when a very strong, irrational fear is connected with specific situation, like
approaching a spider, driving a car in the traffic, riding in the elevator, fear
of flying. Phobia can be very strong, it can easily lead to panic attacks, even
to losing consciousness in extreme cases. Phobias are very common and
hypnotherapy is absolutely the best way to completely free yourself from the
phobia, even if you were suffering through your whole life. Please read more on
my page on treating phobias with
hypnotherapy.
In my busy City practise I often see clients seeking help with their
fear of public speaking or the fear of flying,
and the results of hypnotherapy are always spectacular.
Sometimes when the phobia is untreated,
it spreads to different areas. For example, the original phobia can be the fear
of heights, from that emerges the fear of flying, perhaps there was a panic
attack during the flight, so now there is fear of panic attacks etc. This kind
of anxiety is a bit more difficult to treat, because it disappears completely
only when all the underlying phobias are treated.
Sometimes clients feel anxious or have
panic attacks in non specific situations, like early in the mornings, or when
going too bed, they do not even know what causes those fears. There is
agitation, sometimes strong physical sensations in the body most of the time.
This form of anxiety is called general anxiety. General anxiety is very
often connected with social anxiety. There could be mild social anxiety,
which arises only when the person is performing in front of big group of people,
or when dealing with the authority, or when meeting new people etc. Sometimes it
is rather a social phobia, very strong social anxiety, when any encounter with
other people leads to panic attacks. It may be so paralyzing that people stay
imprisoned in their house, unable to leave.
The anxiety is usually associated with
other mental issues, especially with
depression an low confidence.
This is like a circle, because when you feel "not good enough" and anxious, it
makes you feel sad and not loved, so you are more depressed, the fears get
stronger, they bring a lot of negative, obsessive thinking and it just goes out
of control. Depression and anxiety are very often connected with
sleep disorders and
eating disorders.
The constant anxiety is very difficult
to bear, so some coping mechanisms are created. Everything is better than the
feeling of dread; some people become obsessive, they may develop OCD (Obsessive
Compulsive Disorder). The may be washing their hands for hours, or keep checking
if the door is locked, or they may develop obsession with health or food. The
original fear is usually deeply buried underneath the obsessive thoughts, and
the anxious feeling is dealt with by unreasonable activity. The other ways to
cope is to eat rapidly big amounts of food (binge eating) and drinking or
smoking, or some other addictions. For milder anxiety it may be nail biting or
other unwanted habits.
The anxiety very often shows physical
symptoms, the same as prolonged stress (some clients
call their anxiety stress; milder anxiety and stress are very similar).
Panic attacks are experienced as strong anxiety when it becomes out of
control. It is a feeling of paralyzing dread, with feeling out of control.
Clients experience different levels of panic attacks; there are usually strong
physical symptoms, most common rapid heart rate or palpitations, changes in the
breathing, it may become fast and shallow, sometimes it is difficult to breath,
there could be heaviness or pain in the chest, the hands and legs may shake,
sometimes there is heat on the face or neck (and some people blush), strong
sweating, sometimes coldness. There could be a strong tension in the body, the
muscles in the neck and shoulders usually tighten strongly, also the muscles on
the head, it may lead to dizziness. Sometimes the panic attack is causing more
fear than the original situation, it may feel like heart attack, sometimes
people faint.
There are many ways of solving anxiety. Many forms of anxiety, like specific
phobias, can be solved very easily, as they usually have a cause in the past
which can be easily accessed and neutralized. The general anxiety or social
phobia are more difficult to solve, because there are usually more reasons and
very often associated with low self esteem and depression, which also need to be
treated.
Hypnosis and hypnotherapy are the best tools for treating anxiety, and the
anxiety can be solved in just a few sessions. This involves:
Usually only 2 to 10 sessions are needed,
depending on the severity of anxiety and how many other issues need treatment.
The specific phobia may need only two
sessions, even if it is very strong and there are panic attacks. However, when
the fears are not specific and the anxiety is associated with depression, self
hate, eating disorder or OCD, more sessions are needed, because the real reason
of anxiety is very deeply rooted in other mental issues and it is important to
clear them all. It is sometimes difficult to imagine that such distressing issue
affecting the quality of life on many levels can be lifted so quickly.
The first session is used to learn hypnosis and
relaxation, and the benefits are experienced even in the first session. In most
cases there is strong improvement within the first 2 or 3 sessions, then the
progress may slow down, but the changes become deeper, lasting, as the
foundation for change is stronger.
Strong anxiety is a
serious disorder, strongly affecting health and general wellbeing and often
ability to work. The treatment I offer is very effective, one of the best
available and therefore I offer a significant discount for the clients who
experience real financial difficulties. I asses clients myself, because to
qualify for the discount the client needs to be likely to really benefit from
the therapy
