Hypnosis and Anxiety

[AnelaKini]

Has anyone ever used hypnosis with a professional, for anxiety? If so, I was wondering if it helped.
I've used CD's that I've found through the library - in the past, I had my own copy of Brian Weiss' relaxation CD, and loved it, but I've somehow lost it - but I need more face-to-face time with people, and am on the lookout for a therapist - one is also a hypnotherapist, so I thought I'd try her first.

My main problem is social anxiety; I was doing pretty well, but have had a huge backslide, and I'm freaked out by it. In the past, I was agoraphobic, and I'm still over that - I find that I now need to get out of the house when I feel anxious, instead of staying in and curling up (usually), because it does nothing to release the tension and just leaves me with anxiety racing through me. My anxiety started out as undiagnosed PTSD, when I was a girl. I've been dealing with this for thirty years, and it's getting to me how much time I've lost to anxiety, and how it screws up my relationships, as well as my self-esteem, when it's bad.

[Medium_Laura]

Sounds to me like you are empathic. You tend to pick up other people's energy and go on overload. I was like that as well. Hypnotherapy will help, but also protecting yourself from picking up energy in public will as well. Try shielding yourself, do a mental check of your emotions before you go out and know that these emotions and energy are not your own. Having energy boundaries has helped me greatly. I used to HATE malls, I now can tolerate them :)

Learning to monitor your breath helps as well. When you begin to feel anxious, focus on only your breathing. Slow it down, in through the nose, out slowly through your mouth. I say this "I am in control of my own breathing. I am protected. I am well." Just having that to focus on and not the input of all that energy does get me past the sweating, shaking and jitters :)

[AnelaKini]

I am empathic, I think, and have been known to pick up emotions from others. I tend to feel panic, dizzy, or just plain heavy and miserable when I've either messed up, or I'm going to find out bad news... I generally grit my teeth and try to find the source of the feeling, if I know that there's no reason I should be feeling the way I am. I just had this happen recently. I've also picked up on warm, loving emotions from someone, more than once, and felt it when people were praying for me or someone close to me, like a family member or pet - I just calmed down and one time, prayers almost felt like delicate drops of water. I'm not sure how to put it. :)

I've been having trouble with keeping my cool over something that I really should have been over by now. It triggered something from my past, and I thought I'd be okay on the first day, but it's been almost two months, and the feelings haven't disappeared. I was okay when I was mostly alone, and then confined to bed for health reasons - I lost my dog, which has had me feeling very sad, and depressed when it hit me again, as I found myself looking for him, or throwing a snack on the floor for him, but other than that, I'd managed to keep my attitude on an even keel... I was stupid enough to put myself into the position of being exposed to the people that I felt negative around, and I just sabotaged myself.

I can't really get into more, but I think a part of it is picking up on their energy, as well as my starting to feel fearful. I was just reading something in "Trust Your Vibes" about freezing the energy somehow, but writing an affirmation and literally freezing it (something about stopping any negativity heading my way), and also doing what I'd done automatically, when I felt like something was up. I just said, "Stop!" and then went back to reading. I haven't had the opportunity to exercise, and have found myself eating more meat and mashed potatoes (separately, like a chicken sandwich from Burger King, or something else that's dense), and was hoping to find some sort of protection visualization on the internet, that I might be able to burn to a CD, or listen to on youtube, because I have trouble with that myself. :) Flower essences sometimes help, but not always.

I will write down your affirmation, and try it myself. Thank you so much for responding. :) ♥

[Medium_Laura]

You are welcome to my free podcasts :)

Grounding and protecting is a good start :)

http://mediumlauraevans.podomatic.com

[star-child]

Hello :smile: yes I highly recommend hypnotherapy! It helped me greatly with anxiety and alcohol problems in only a short time, although you have to keep the sessions up and dig deep with the underlying causes for a long term affect (I was so desperate to stop drinking but really the issue was my confidence, self worth etc.)

Find a hypnotherapist who is reputable and continue seeing them if you feel comfortable with them. They may do regression which will dig deep and fish out some negative memories so you would have to feel comfortable sharing them so you can work on them.

Star-Child.

[Enya]

Hypnosis is a very good tool for this sort of thing, but you have to be willing on an unconscious level to make the necessary changes. Look for a reputable therapist who has plenty of experience and knowledge in this field.

[AnelaKini]

Thank you all ~ Medium Laura, I will check those out. :)

star-child and Enya ~ I had a regression last August, but I didn't get much out of it. I was supposed to go back to her two weeks later, but I cancelled, because I wanted to work with her CD for more practice (she's also two hours away, and I want someone closer for regular work, but she was trained by Michael Newton). I'm hoping to get back to her before my birthday in April... if you check my profile for threads I've started, I posted something about my regression. :)

I've been ready to change for a good while, but I know what you mean about *really* being ready for change. I had no problems with people or my self-confidence before a certain age, but several things happened in succession to leave me the total opposite by the time I dropped out of school. I wasn't as proactive as I should have been, for years, but one thing I regret is not telling my mother that I was interested in the hypnotherapy she signed my sister up for, when I was fourteen. She didn't know how bad my anxiety was, because I hid it well, so it didn't occur to her that I needed help as well.

[Enya]

Hi, I didn't suggest regression... although it can help if it's a valid avenue to explore. Ordinary hypnosis, however, can be valuable in helping the subconsicous examine emotions, situations and finding keys to help unlock and release the causes of anxiety. I've done quite a bit (along with other methods) with a friend and it has certainly helped. Mind you, it took me a long time before I trusted her enough... lol.

[Medium_Laura]

anxiety has been long linked with someone who worries about future events that have not yet come to pass. Do you relate to this?

Do you feel as if you are in a state of constant worry about "what if?"

This may be what needs to be addressed first. Once you can identify why you are getting the attacks, you can then learn to stop them. :)

[AnelaKini]

oops, sorry Enya. I included you both together, because you both recommended it with the proper guidance. :) I had a little freak out, about a week before going to see the one woman, when I suddenly felt very vulnerable at the thought of being so vulnerable in her presence.

Medium Laura ~ there's definitely an element of "What if?" I've finally taken care of certain things that I wanted to do, or needed to do, and found myself wondering why I put it off for so long, but I fall back into it. I also know that it's better to get stressful things out of the way, but when I was younger, I was more "go with the flow" - or that's what I thought at the time. Time sped up at some point and started to worry about losing more time to any rubbish (only to put my foot right in the muck - nice ;) ). There's also an element of, "Holy __, why did I do that??" that comes along before a certain type of "What if?" I've always been tough on myself, regarding mistakes, but I really know how to land myself in it at times. I've also had problems with relationships with men, due to certain things that happened in my childhood - before they came along, and I saw that not all men were good and trustworthy - my grandmother had me stuttering, when we lived with her. I won't get into it all, but there was a violent incident with one guy, and a few others weren't good for my mother or us, so I had that on top of the grandmother treatment, and then bullying in school, later on - I somehow had enough self-esteem to get myself out of a bad situation, but not enough to realize that there wasn't something wrong with me, if you know what I mean. (I'm so sleepy - I've been up all night and day.) I thought I would be over this by now. :) The little girl in my avatar is me, before I had any of these problems, but I find that I keep referring to myself as "her" and "the little girl" - I still haven't fully reconnected myself with her.

[Medium_Laura]

I also suffered with PTSD and anxiety so I know where you are coming from. I know you are in Ohio but I have a really good friend in NY that does Past life hypnotherapy and he also has a book you may want to pick up.

Richard Scheinberg’s first book:
Turning Trauma Into Triumph – Ten Stories of Hope and Growth, Including My Own

quote: What if someone told you that the most difficult period in your life may be a blessing in disguise? As a psychotherapist with 28 years of experience, Richard C. Scheinberg has candidly and succinctly summarized the spiritual and deeply personal transformation of ten people attempting to overcome the worst challenges of their lives."

You can also find him on FB, just tell him Medium Laura sent you :) He's awesome!

http://www.facebook.com/SeekingSoul

[AnelaKini]

Thank you, Laura. :)

I ordered his book several days after you mentioned it here, but have yet to finish reading it.