Hypnotherapy for Anxiety

[Anxious_1]

Hi

Has anyone tried Hypnotherapy for anxiety or other mental health issues? If so did you get relief?

I'm just looking for all/any alternative treatments, I have only started on meds 3 weeks ago and was going ok with them, but I feel like anxiety is starting to creep back in!

Any info or advice would be appreciated!

Cheers

[PamelaR]

Hi everyone here

There is a newby I see too - welcome Deni-e.

Hypnotherapy - well, I have had it. Especially when I was going through a breakdown. My psychologist used it mainly to calm me down, to explore the trauma in a safe place and to help rebuild my life. I see Paul you don't think it works. For me, it did.

Basically the hypnotherapy helped reduce my dissociation, my symptoms of anxiety, memories and feelings associated with the trauma.

It did work. I think it's getting over the idea that hypnosis is like what you see on tv where it makes people do weird things.

For me the therapy was sending me into a very deep and relaxed state to allow my mind to rest without fear and fright. Had she not helped me I would have had to go to hospital.

Maybe it worked because I had been seeing the psychologist for about 18 months before I had my breakdown. So I trusted her implicitly. I don't think it would work if I went to someone for the first time. I can see someone asking - how come I had a breakdown if I was seeing someone. It was because during that 18 months I was reliving a childhood trauma that my memory had stored away for nearly 30 odd years. I refused to take medication and eventually all my 'happy' chemicals had been used up.

It wasn't just the hypnotherapy that worked, I had to start taking medication too. It was both these things that helped me through.

Medication can take up to 6 weeks to start working. So don't give up on the meds yet.

Hope some of this helps those out there who are thinking of using hypnotherapy.

If you have any questions, let me know.

Kind regards

PamelaR

[memorytrap]

Thank you for replying Pamela.

I have two questions, was your psychologist already qualified as a hypnotherapist or did you have to seek one out? I was also wondering, what was the experience like, were you aware during the process and what was it that was making you open up, and most importantly, did you feel safe? Thank you very much.

[blondguy]

Hi A1 (Anxious1) My apologies for hi-jacking your thread for moment if thats okay

Hey PamelaR.....I only mentioned that I (myself) had never heard of anyone that has had success with Hypnotherapy where anxiety/depression is concerned. Until you mentioned you did which is great. I did have hypnotherapy and it was relaxing during the process....just as Homeopathy and Acupuncture was too.

We do have many people that post asking about hypnotherapy on the forums which is great yet it cant be recommended as it doesnt have anyone that can show us any long term results that therapy can...unfortunately. I agree with you about it having a relaxing effect...and thats great to hear too!

I am not against Hypnotherapy at all....Just my humble opinion that anxiety is a partially chemically/behavioral condition that requires frequent therapy and if prescribed..medication. And I have always been anti-meds until I nearly lost everything in the mid 1990's...then the meds were a really good idea 🙂

I mentioned on 21/1 "I respect hypnotherapy for basic issues like stopping smoking...which apparently does help with!"

I am still learning about Hypnotherapy on an ongoing basis and Memorytrap asked excellent questions above that you may able to help with

Please excuse me for interfering in your thread Anxious1 (A1)

my kind thoughts

Paul

[PamelaR]

Hi Anxious 1

If it's okay with you I'd like to continue the conversation with Paul about hypnotherapy as well as respond to Memorytrap's questions. In some ways I don't think it's highjacking your thread because I think it's relative to the heading of your thread Hypnotherapy for anxiety. Just let me know if I'm overstepping it - all good.

By the way my comments below in no way make recommendations that people use this form of therapy. I'm just relating my experience and what I would do now.

Answers to Memorytrap's questions

• was your psychologist already qualified as a hypnotherapist or did you have to seek one out? To be honest, I don't know. I never asked, nor did I go looking for a hypnotherapist. For me, it was just another tool my psychologist used to help me through my recovery from my breakdown. In hindsight I would now ensure the person is qualified, i.e.registered professional membership with Australian Society of Clinical Hypnotherapists.

• what was the experience like? The experience was like going into a deep meditation. It was very relaxing. My body felt heavy and light at the same time. Sorry can't explain it any other way.
• were you aware during the process? I was totally aware during the whole process. I knew what she was saying and asking.
• what was it that was making you open up? Do you know I can't really remember. It was the soft voice telling me to feel calm to relax and allow my body to relax. Why I opened up - mainly because I'd been working with my psychologist for 18 months previously. It was easy. I wanted so much to be better. I wanted to be - over it all, recovered, healed. So opening up was easy. Now this is only my thoughts, I think it's because my pathways (neurotransmitters) were opened up through such deep relaxation that it helped to get the memories to emerge, to feel the emotions.
• most importantly, did you feel safe. I felt completely safe during all the work we did.

Hiya Paul

I'm pleased you raised the topic of the long term affects of using hypnotherapy. I was a little remiss in my explanation and should explain further. I'm going to have to start another post 🙂 🙂

PamelaR

[PamelaR]

Hiya Anxious 1 (and Paul)

I'm back again to finish my story about my use of hypnotherapy.

One thing I probably should say is - anxiety doesn't go away for good. It's always there and pops it's head up every now and then. It's learning techniques to help managing it when this happens. So my use of hypnotherapy was to 'cure' my anxiety, it was used to help me reduce the impact of the severity of the attacks. I.e. reduce heart rate, reduce heart palpitations, calm the breathing, calm the mind.

I didn't use hypnotherapy in isolation to any other forms of therapy. It was just one tool used at a particular crisis point - when I melted down with the very last memory that emerged. It was the most dreadful and I just couldn't take it anymore. Up until that point my psychologist had used a lot of different therapies (exposure therapy, CBT, BT, DBT, plus many others) to help my PTSD, anxiety and depression. It started with me doing a course that she ran for others with anxiety. Before we did any work it was important to try and get my anxiety levels under control before I started looking at my memory.

The biggest thing for me is - everyone is different, some things will work for some and won't work for others. It all depends on your experiences, your beliefs and a range of many other things.

So I'm not recommending hypnotherapy as a solution to anxiety. Sorry for misleading anyone. It really is just one of many tools for some people who find it useful.

Kind regards

PamelaR

[KateGreat]

I just saw this post and wanted to add that my Husband had amazing results with hypnotherapy. He first went because he was getting increasingly anxious on packed trains, and as he commutes daily that was a big problem. After one session he felt that no longer bothered him, so he went back as he was finding he was having trouble doing things without checking multiple times like he hasn't locked the door when he left home etc. He would worry constantly about work and wasn't sleeping well as so many people with anxiety don't.
He was recommended someone and made sure they didn't do past life regression and that kind of stuff. They didn't look into his childhood or anything like that. He tells everyone now, he's a changed person. Hope this helps.

[blondguy]

Hi KateGreat

Welcome to the forums and thankyou for providing your (your husbands) success using hypnotherapy and congrats to your husband for feeling like a changed person!

Great to have a successful outcome using hypnotherapy with commuting anxiety issues 🙂

Thankyou for the helpful post KateGreat!

Paul