Many of us recognise how it feels to be anxious, apprehensive or stressed about something. Generally, these feelings are fleeting and they disappear altogether as quickly as they appear. For those with anxiety, however, these kinds of feelings may keep going longer and can be considerably more intense. If you are affected by anxiety, consider hypnotherapy. I offer online therapy for anxiety sessions. In this article I will look at how hypnotherapy works for anxiety.
If you have an anxiety disorder, you might find that you steer clear of certain situations since you’re worried it will bring about these feelings for you. This can make day-to-day activities challenging and hold you back from carrying out the things you want.
There are various different techniques and methods that can help with anxiety, as well as cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), an important one I use with online therapy for anxiety clients is hypnotherapy. Hypnotherapy works as a therapy for anxiety since it strives to seek out the root cause of the problem and modify your relationship with anxiety. Both online and face to face sessions look also to lower current levels of emotion and stress.
Online therapy for anxiety: what is anxiety?
As individuals, we have evolved to protect ourselves. One way we all do that is via the ‘fight, flight or freeze’ response. If our minds experience a threat or danger, it releases hormones to get ready for us to run away, fight, or freeze. These hormones include adrenaline and cortisol. They help to make us feel more vigilant of what’s happening. They also make our hearts beat more quickly, so blood is sent where it’s required the most when we’re under attack.
It’s a great strategy, but as society has developed, we have now less requirement for it. For most of us, the system gets triggered when there is no physical danger present. For example, our fight, flight or freeze response may be brought on by our work supervisor asking us to add another job to our to-do list.
We then wind up internalising the feelings and find ourselves sitting at our desks, with our hearts pounding, with no idea exactly how to make it end. Anxiety becomes a mental health condition when it begins affecting daily life. You might be very easily triggered, or find you have a level of anxiety constantly during the day. When anxiety affects daily life, it is time to seek help. That is where online therapy for anxiety can be helpful.
What are the warning symptoms of anxiety?
Anxiety will feel different to every person, nevertheless, there are certain symptoms here you may connect with if you have anxiety:
- over thinking
- ruminating
- headaches
- chest pain
- dizziness
- difficulties sleeping
- faster breathing
- nausea
- fast or irregular heartbeat
- teeth grinding
- restlessness
Online therapy for anxiety looks at types of anxiety
Due to the fact that anxiety is a normal part of life, it can be challenging to recognise when it is turning into a problem. Nevertheless, if you are experiencing strong feelings of anxiety, or they are lasting for a long time, it can become stressful and overwhelming.
The symptoms and difficulties associated with anxiety will change between each person but, depending on the kind of problems you experience, you might be diagnosed with a more specific anxiety disorder, such as generalised anxiety disorder, panic disorder or social phobia.
Generalised anxiety disorder
Individuals with generalised anxiety disorder (GAD) will experience anxiety often and may not know the reason why. The anxiety can interfere with daily life as sufferers may seriously worry about family, money and health. The condition is often diagnosed when an individual spends at least six months worrying excessively about everyday difficulties. It can be a difficult disorder to live along with as it can actually feel as if there’s no respite from anxiety.
Panic disorder
Panic disorder is characterised by intense feelings of terror, which can come on suddenly and without warning. A typical symptom is panic attacks, though not every person who experiences a panic attack will have panic disorder. Individuals who are diagnosed with panic disorder can often experience a constant fear of having a panic attack. It is this anxiety that can then often lead to panic attacks, where it gets to be a vicious cycle.
Social anxiety disorder
Social anxiety disorder, also known as social phobia, will involve intense feelings of anxiety and irritation in social situations. Some of the typical signs of social anxiety include things like fear of being around and interacting with people and being judged negatively by others.
Other kinds of anxiety disorders include:
- obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)
- phobias
- post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
- Health anxiety
More commonly associated with OCD, health anxiety is a specific kind of phobia or anxiety, that may make day to day life extremely hard.
Someone with health anxiety will find themselves stressing a great deal about their health and may think they’re unwell when they’re not. They might check their body regularly for signs of illness, including unusual lumps, pains or other physical sensations. They may also be perpetually frightened of dying.
different anxiety types.
How can I reduce anxiety?
Anxiety is a difficult thing to live alongside. It can feel tiring, taking its toll on both our psychological and physical wellbeing. If you suffer from anxiety, in any form, know that you’re not alone and that there are tools to help you.
What works best for you will depend on the nature of your anxiety and your personal circumstances. Do your best not to be disheartened if one approach doesn’t seem to help. For some people, self-help techniques like meditation, breathing exercises and journaling are enough to manage anxiety symptoms. For others, more professional guidance is needed, which can include online therapy for anxiety or panic attacks.
Talking therapies like counselling and cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) are often recommended for anxiety. Your doctor may also recommend medication. Hypnotherapy for anxiety is also gaining in popularity and, for many people, hypnotherapy can bring about positive change not only in anxiety symptoms but in your relationship with anxiety itself.
Does online therapy for anxiety using hypnotherapy work for anxiety?
Online hypnotherapy for anxiety can help boost feelings of confidence and self-belief whilst reducing feelings of fear and intense worry. A hypnotherapist can help you develop the ability to access the relaxed state of mind needed to overcome the often-overwhelming emotions that come with anxiety.
Using the power of suggestion, hypnotherapy aims to access your subconscious mind and promote positive change. This can be done also during online therapy sessions of hypnotherapy. The suggestions themselves can be tailored to help you learn what triggers your anxiety and why, as well as changing the way you react towards them.
How online hypnotherapy works for anxiety
To begin, you will generally discuss what it is you hope to achieve from your online therapy for anxiety sessions with your hypnotherapist. Your hypnotherapist will ask questions to try and establish any triggers or causes for the way you feel. They will then explain how online therapy for anxiety using hypnotherapy for anxiety works, explaining the process to you, so you know what to expect.
After an initial phone consultation, during online sessions you will receive a recording. This hypnotherapy recording will begin by helping you enter a relaxed state of mind. While hypnotherapy sessions will differ you may be asked to focus on a time when you have felt anxious. You may be asked to focus on the physical sensations, as well as thinking of what may trigger your anxiety.
Once you have recognised these sensations, I often will then continue by providing a hypnotherapy recording that may offer calming words or ‘suggestions’. What is said will depend on you and your personal situation. For example, if you have recognised a trigger to be pressure at work or university, the suggestion could be, “You can do this easily. Take a moment to calmly breathe and clear your head then tackle the problem.”
The idea behind this technique is that when you start to feel anxious or fearful, the suggestions or calming words will enter your conscious mind and help you cope. As an online hypnotherapist I may also teach techniques to help you relax and calm yourself down when you feel anxious feelings building.
You may find that you only need one or two online therapy for anxiety sessions to help you understand why you feel this way. You will gain tools so you can know what to do to cope, or you may need a couple more sessions. In terms of how many sessions you have, you will be able to discuss this during the initial phone consultation.
It is common for a hypnotherapist to also teach self-hypnosis techniques that you can turn to when you feel you need them. These can be done easily during online therapy for anxiety sessions. These sessions will often include recordings and simple methods to practise at home.
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