Do you feel like your mind is racing? Do you have difficulties concentrating? Are you finding it hard to slow down? Are your thoughts incessantly going around in your brain? Are you feeling tight in your stomach at the thought of something that hasn’t happened yet? Do you wake up in the middle of the night, and find it hard to go back to sleep? Do you feel uneasy, out of the blue, for now apparent reason? Do you feel apprehensive or powerless? Do you feel like something bad is about to happen? Do you feel like you can’t relax, to “smell the roses”?
Well, these are all symptoms of Anxiety, a condition that affects 1 in 4 Australians at some stage in our life.
What is Anxiety?
Anxiety is a natural body response to a threat, or a perceived threat. It is associated with our fight/flight autonomic response system, which allows us to take quick action to evade a dangerous situation. This causes an instant release of adrenaline into your blood stream, which results in sudden increase in heart rate, a rush of blood to your arms and legs, rapid breathing, narrow eyes-focus, a burst of energy and a sense of danger.
This response is very natural, when a ‘real’ threat appears. Like when you have to jump out of the way of an out-of-control car. Or when you jump sideways or you run, a second after almost stepping on a snake.
But this heightened state of arousal in the body is supposed to go away, and allow the body to return to a normal, calm, state, once the danger has passed. However, a large percentage of people maintain this heightened state of arousal long after the threat has passed, and are even constantly in this state, all the time. Prolonged periods of stress can have significant and potentially irreversible consequences for our long-term health.
There is some evidence that indicates that anxiety may cause: digestive issues, skin conditions, sleep disturbances and even more serious issues like neurological conditions and cancer. It can, also, lead to taking on unhelpful coping-behaviours, such as smoking, excessive drinking or other addictive or obsessive behaviours.
It is important to recognize the symptoms of anxiety, and to take action to bring balance, calm and clarity into your system.
Strategic Psychotherapy is a solution-oriented form of therapy which is focused on, not just making you ‘feel’ better, but on helping you ‘do’ better: When you are doing better, you are feeling better!
Social phobia or social anxiety disorder: A disorder that causes people to avoid social or performance situations for fear of being embarrassed, judged or rejected.
Panic disorder: Regular panic attacks, which are sudden intense episodes of irrational fear, shortness of breath, dizziness and other physical symptoms.
Agoraphobia: Avoiding certain situations due to fear of having a panic attack (agoraphobia is often associated with panic disorder).
Specific phobias: Irrational fears that only apply to one particular situation, such as a fear of animals, insects, places, activities or people. For example, claustrophobia is a specific fear of enclosed or confined spaces.
Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD): Unwanted thoughts and impulses (obsessions), causing repetitive, routine behaviours (compulsions) as a way of coping with anxiety.
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD): When feelings of fear or avoidance do not fade after experiencing or witnessing a traumatic life event. It involves upsetting memories, flashbacks, nightmares and difficulties sleeping.
What causes Anxiety?
It is not clearly understood what causes Anxiety, and how much of it we inherit in our genes, how much of it is learnt and how much is because of our environment.
Risk factors for anxiety include:
family history — you are more likely to develop anxiety if you have a family history of anxiety or other mental health issues (though it doesn’t mean if there are mental health issues in your family you will develop anxiety)
substance use — particularly cannabis, amphetamines, alcohol and sedatives — or withdrawing from drugs and alcohol
consuming caffeine, as well as some non-prescription and herbal medicines
having a certain personality type, such as being a perfectionist, having low self-esteem or needing to be in control
Everyone is different and often a combination of factors contributes to developing an anxiety disorder.
Treatments for Anxiety
Which anxiety treatments will work for you depends on you, what type of anxiety disorder you have, and how severe it is. Mild anxiety may be helped by making lifestyle changes such as regular physical exercise, whereas more severe cases may require more complex interventions, such as seeing a therapist, a doctor or a specialist.
The key to understanding Anxiety is to understand that anxiety is not a ‘thing’, it is a ‘process’! It is not something that you are, it is something that you ‘run’! You ‘run’ anxiety, because you base your mental processes on a number of cognitive distortions*, which have the same outcome – the symptoms of anxiety – in every person, regardless of their unique set of circumstances.
Basically, every person that runs anxiety tends to:
over-analyse things (For example, people feel that the more they think about something the more they can, somehow, control it. However, ‘thinking about it’ is not ‘doing something about it’.)
have a negative future orientation, to catastrophise into the future, and assume that things are likely to go wrong rather than well;
intolerant of ambiguities, to be uncomfortable with the uncertainties of life
be internally-oriented, to spend a lot of time in their own head, ruminating, not able to let go of their thoughts
rely on their feelings as an indicator of what is ‘real’. (For example, they say “I feel it, so it must be real/true”.)
be avoidant, to adopt behaviour and actions that help them escape from their internal conflict;
find it hard to compartmentalize, to ‘park’ their thoughts and feelings, to let go
be perfectionistic, to expect a lot from themselves, to be quite hard and critical of themselves
have a high need for control of their life (because they feel not in control of their life);
put others first, to take responsibility for the wellbeing of others
In strategic psychotherapy, we pull apart each of these cognitive distortions, so that you have a chance to replace them with more adequate and realistic responses for the situations that you find yourself in.
In clinical hypnosis, you are guided into a state of trance, through which you will be able to connect with your own internal resources. This will allow you to see a different perspective of the situation, and to choose better ways of dealing with that situation.
It is important that you do your research, and that you find an experienced accredited clinical hypnotherapist to help you on your journey.
(* Cognitive distortions are automatic negative and, to a great extent, illogical thoughts. A person might say “If that happens, I will not be able to cope with it”. This is an example of a cognitive distortion called “catastrophising”, in which the person is projecting into the future an exaggerated and, to a significant extent, illogical outcome, as though it is perfectly logical to arrive at that conclusion. Basically, the person overestimates the level of risk, and underestimates their personal resources.)
Ongoing stress can cause long-term health issues, and can even contribute to serious health conditions.
If you have a lot of stress in your life, and feel unable to get it under control, then hypnotherapy can help. Hypnosis helps put you in a deep state of relaxation, which can give your mind and body the much needed experience of ‘letting go’ of thoughts and worries. People usually feel refreshed, with a clearer mind and sharper focus at the end of their session. They feel so well and calm, that they look forward to their next session and to reaching this state of calm again.
I will teach you self-hypnosis, so you can create this state of calm whenever you need it.
I will use strategic psychotherapy to help you shift your perception to more resourceful ways of interacting with the world.
Anger
Anger is a natural response of externalising tension/emotions to a situation in which you feel like you are not acknowledged, heard, respected, etc. Also, in some cases, anger is caused by a chemical imbalance in the body (for example sugar imbalance), or can be linked to substance use and abuse.
Therefore, anger is not a ‘good’ or a ‘bad’ thing. It’s how you go about expressing it that determines its quality.
I use NLP to help you change perspectives and to gain insights into if/how anger is working for you.
I use strategic psychotherapy and clinical hypnosis to help you access your own resourceful states, your own way of creating calm and balance in your mind.
Sleep Problems
Having problems falling asleep, or do you wake up in the middle of the night and find it hard to fall asleep again. Or just wake up feeling un-refreshed in the morning?
Everyone has a bad night from time to time but, if you frequently sleep poorly, then it is time to do something about it. Research shows that poor, long-term, sleep can cause serious mental (eg. depression, mania, psychosis, etc), and physical health problems (eg. weight-gain, diabetes, liver disease, etc).
Hypnotherapy works very well in helping people get back to normal, healthy sleep routine. We will look at the external factors that may impact on your sleep and, also, at how you are ‘doing’ your sleep. The mental process you use for sleeping determines the result. People that sleep well are better at just switching the mind off when they put their head on the pillow. They are able to just ‘think of nothing’.
With strategic psychotherapy and clinical hypnosis I will help you learn ways to become aware of your mind and to be able to slow it down so that you can just fall asleep easily when you put your head on the pillow at night.
Low Self-Esteem
People that suffer from low self-esteem are most often very capable, smart and hard-working people that have come to believe the negative , or untrue, assessment that people around them have given them. Looking outside for validation, regardless of the context, is fraught with danger. We cannot expect to have an accurate and complete assessment of ourselves from someone else, no matter how well they know us. They have their own filters and emotions that might skew their perceptions.
All of us, even the most well-known and respected people, are a continuous work in progress. If you want to find your strong and well-grounded self, then give hypnotherapy a go.
Brain-Fog
Brain-fog can be a secondary effect of several physiological or neurological conditions, so it is recommended to confirm with your doctor if it is safe for you to undergo hypnotherapy for the brain-fog.
Whether or not people seek therapy for clearing brain-fog, hypnotherapy usually results in improved clarity of mind, increased ability to focus, better awareness of what is going on around, increased motivation, confidence and energy.
I use strategic psychotherapy, NLP and clinical hypnosis to help you, on a conscious level, distinguish between what works and what doesn’t work in the way you use your mind, and to help your unconscious mind develop thinking strategies that allow you to reach your goals.
Social-Anxiety
Do you feel uncomfortable when you are around other people, especially people that you don’t know? You are not alone. Feeling shy when meeting new people is normal for most people. If, however, this unease starts affecting your life, then it is time to do something about it.
Using strategic psychotherapy, NLP and clinical hypnosis I can help you: change the patterns of anxiety and generate new empowering and socially-adequate ways for social interaction.
Phobias
If you’re scared of spiders, of rats, of birds, of closed spaces, of heights, of elevators, of flying, or of anything else, then hypnotherapy is definitely for you.
A phobia is an unconsciously- learnt process that is being ‘played’ by default every time a particular ‘trigger’ is encountered. Usually, these phobic default-processes form at an early age and, as a result, the person comes in for therapy saying “I’ve always had this problem”… The reality is that they haven’t always had the problem. The problem appeared at a particular instant when the conscious mind was not able to grasp and make logical sense of what was happening to them in that moment, and the unconscious reverted to creating a drastic situation in order to create safe space between the person and the perceived threat. But what was perceived as a threat when a toddler would likely not be a treat in adult life.
Using strategic psychotherapy, NLP and clinical hypnotherapy it is possible to interrupt the neural pathways that are responsible for the problem, and to create new associations that are appropriate for the current context.
Many people experience a dramatic reduction in their phobia after the first session, but it is recommended to undergo 3 to 5 sessions to completely remove any underlying reasons for the phobia.
Anxiety
It is human to feel anxious from time to time. However, if the anxious feelings don’t go away, or if they happen out of the blue, without any particular reason, or they make your daily life difficult, you may be suffering from anxiety.
Anxiety is the most common mental health condition in Australia. On average, one in three women and one in five men experience anxiety at some stage in their life.
People that have a tendency towards anxiety often get caught up in their imagination about things or situations that have not yet happened (and may never, actually, happen). They tend to focus on future events, and feel uneasy about uncertainty because – in their mind – anything uncertain can go really bad.
With strategic psychotherapy and clinical hypnosis I help people:
Become more clear about their ways of thinking and how they process information: what is working and what is not working
Make a distinction between what is real (or a fact) and what is imagined
Find ways of being more at ease with uncertainly and the unknown
Develop a more positive expectancy and outlook
Become more grounded and self-reliant (as opposed to reliant on others)
Identify a better way of processing information, a better ‘mental process’ for how to respond to difficult situations
Smoking
Hypnosis has been shown to help people give up smoking for good, by addressing both the psychological and the physical cravings that are associated with the nicotine withdrawal.
You might think that you are addicted to cigarettes, but in fact you may be addicted to the feeling that the cigarettes are giving you. Perhaps you smoke to de-stress, or because of boredom, or at certain times during the day…
It is important to take note, to un-pack, to understand your smoking habit, as this is will weaken your unconscious link with it. The treatment is simple and straightforward, and most people quit smoking without difficulty. A commitment to undertaking 4 sessions is required, even if you quit smoking after the first session. This is to ensure that all the underlying factors that have contributed to smoking are addressed.
If you want to give the habit away for good, then call me to find out how this can be a permanent resolve for you.
Procrastination
Who has never put things off, especially if they were unpleasant? Like studying for an exam, or making that difficult phone-call, or cleaning up that shed, or room?
People usually put things off because they are trading in one unpleasant feeling for a more pleasant feeling. It is like getting some feeling of comfort in the present moment is more important that the likely feeling of discomfort later on. Therefore, people that tend to procrastinate, are usually more present-oriented, more inclined towards avoiding discomfort.
If putting things off is affecting your life, then I can help you with strategic psychotherapy and clinical hypnosis to:
Make a distinction between what is important ‘now’, and what is important ‘later’
Recognise what stays in the way of taking action (the incongruence, or resistance)
Take control over what is important
Come up with a process for taking action, and consistently follow through with it
Pain Management
If you have tried everything to manage your pain and nothing has helped, then it is worth giving hypnosis a fair go.
Pain management is the most empirically-validated application of hypnosis. Independent research, over the last 200 years has shown that hypnosis appears to be at least as effective as other non-physical approaches in the management of pain.
Hypnosis works by helping the brain dissociate from the pain and by changing its perception of it. Most of this takes place during the hypnosis session and happens at an unconscious level. It may, also, continue to happen after the session has ended. People often notice a positive change straight away, while sometimes the positive results become visible gradually over a period of time.
So, if nothing else has helped so far to remove, or reduce, your pain, or you are sick of taking pain killers, then you should consult with your doctor about whether clinical hypnosis may be the right path for you. Important to note that, for any pain-related hypnotherapy session, a referral letter from your doctor is likely to be required.
If you are unsure, or would like to discuss further, please contact me via the Contact Page.
Weight Issues
Want to lose weight? Are you feeling frustrated at how hard the diets are, or do you feel defeated by the repeated setbacks?
Diets offer quick fix solutions, and might even produce positive results in the short-term, but they often don’t work in the long-term, because they do not resolve the underlying issue that is at the root of the problem.
Problems happen when food becomes a way to emotionally-soothe, when eating in order to make an unpleasant feeling go away. When this is carried out for years, it becomes a habit and it ends up feeling like a dependency.
The best way to deal with this is by correcting, through hypnotherapy, the unhelpful and limiting beliefs that have caused the problem. Hypnotherapy has been shown to be more effective than dieting, at helping people lose weight.
I use strategic psychotherapy, NLP and clinical hypnosis to eliminate the psychological need that is linked to over-eating, and to regain a healthy relationship with food, that results in long-term/permanent success.
