Hypnotherapy for Anxiety in London
Hi, I’m Steve. I’m a clinical anxiety hypnotherapist in London with extensive experience helping people with anxious feelings and panic disorders achieve positive change. I am a fully qualified Member of the National Council of Hypnotherapy and hold a Hypnotherapy Practitioner Diploma and Diploma in Solution Focused Hypnotherapy. If you’re experiencing stress and anxiety, feeling overwhelmed or finding it hard to motivate yourself, then get in touch. I offer a free initial consultation where we can discuss how Solution Focused Hypnotherapy can help you overcome anxiety.
What is Anxiety?
Anxiety is a normal emotion that everyone experiences at some point in their life. It’s our body’s natural way of preparing us to deal with potentially dangerous or threatening situations.
However, for some people anxiety can become more constant and start to interfere with everyday life. When this happens, it may be a sign that you’re experiencing an anxiety disorder.
What causes us to experience anxiety?
Most of us are familiar with the fight, flight or freeze response. It’s what happens when we’re in survival mode. And because it’s a response to life-threatening situations it’s most useful when it’s instinctive.
Anxiety is the flight response and when there’s a genuine threat, we’re delighted to have it working for us. Unfortunately, it doesn’t always work out that way.
When we’ve been going through a tough time, or when we’ve experienced a trauma or life event that’s hard to move on from, something happens. Temporary distortions start to develop in our minds. Our flight response overrides everything, causing us to feel anxious and panicky.
We can even start to feel anxious about things that we weren’t anxious about before. This is when anxiety becomes a problem.
What kind of anxiety disorders can clinical hypnotherapy help with?
There are five common types of anxiety and clinical hypnotherapy can help with them all. However, there are some types of anxiety disorders that I approach differently.
Understanding anxiety disorders
Anxiety disorders are the most common mental health problem in the UK, with around 1 in 6 people experiencing an anxiety disorder at some point in their lives.
Anxiety can manifest itself in many different ways, from the more common forms of anxiety such as social anxiety and generalised anxiety disorder to the more specific phobias such as agoraphobia and claustrophobia.
If you’re struggling with anxiety, it can feel like you’re trapped in a never-ending cycle of worry and fear. This often causes disruption in many areas of life including insomnia, which compounds the problem. But there is a way out.
Solution-Focused Hypnotherapy can help you to overcome anxiety by breaking the cycle of negative thinking and behaviours that are keeping you trapped.
How does hypnotherapy for anxiety work?
Whether you’re experiencing genuine fear and anxiety or well-camouflaged excitement. These bursts of adrenalin are often an indicator that change is around the corner.
In the sessions, first of all, we’d explore how and in what ways you’d like that change to be. This puts you in control of those bursts of adrenalin and turns any negatives into positive ones.
Hypnotherapy works well for anxiety because your arousal levels are considerably lower under hypnosis. So that you can start to feel the wonderful stillness and quietness that acts as a stable platform. From here positive change can be comfortably launched and then reinforced.
Results vary from person to person.
Anxiety & Adrenaline
Anxiety is powered by adrenaline to help with the flight response, but so too is excitement. In some instances, (but not all), anxiety is a misinterpretation of that burst of adrenaline. We may in fact have been experiencing thrilling, life-affirming excitement instead.
But if we’re not sure why we’ve felt a burst of adrenalin, and have no reason to feel excited, it seems natural enough to interpret the feeling as anxiety.
It’s possible that your mind is preparing you for change. And change, as you can imagine, is potentially exciting. Change can also be anxiety-inducing if you’re uncertain or it’s unknown where that change might lead you. In a way, anxiety is a bi-product of our lives not being predictable and pre-determined.
If we knew in advance about every event that was going to happen throughout our lives, there’d be no nourishment for our anxiety.
Where I hold my sessions
As a clinical hypnotherapist, my hypnotherapy practice is at Muswell Health (North London) and The Terapia Consultancy (Central London). I also run a virtual hypnosis practice online with many of my clients enjoy the process from the comfort of their own home.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Does hypnotherapy work for anxiety?
Hypnotherapy is a therapeutic technique in which a trained therapist helps a person achieve a relaxed, focused state of mind and then provides suggestions to change certain behaviours or alleviate certain symptoms. When it comes to anxiety, there is evidence to suggest that hypnotherapy can be an effective treatment for some individuals.
Here's a breakdown of the evidence and considerations:
Some studies have shown that hypnotherapy can reduce anxiety, particularly in specific situations. For instance, hypnotherapy has been found to be beneficial in reducing anxiety related to surgical procedures, dental procedures, and certain medical conditions. Additionally, it has been used to address phobias, panic attacks, and generalised anxiety disorder (GAD).
Hypnotherapy might help reduce anxiety by promoting relaxation, altering the stress response, and helping individuals change negative thought patterns. In a hypnotic state, some people are more open to suggestions and can more easily internalise positive affirmations or coping strategies.
It's worth noting that not everyone responds to hypnotherapy in the same way. Some individuals are more hypnotisable than others, which may influence the efficacy of the treatment. Moreover, the skill of the hypnotherapist and the rapport between the therapist and the patient can play significant roles in treatment outcomes.
Often, hypnotherapy is used in conjunction with other therapeutic modalities, such as cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT). Combining treatments can sometimes produce more robust results than either treatment alone.
Generally, hypnotherapy is considered safe when performed by trained professionals. However, in rare cases, adverse reactions like headaches, dizziness, or the emergence of unwanted memories can occur. It's also crucial to ensure that the hypnotherapist is qualified and appropriately trained.
If you are considering hypnotherapy for anxiety, it's essential to choose a reputable and certified hypnotherapist. Hypnotherapy is not a regulated profession in the UK, so it's up to the individual to verify the qualifications and experience of a potential therapist.
In conclusion, hypnotherapy can be a beneficial treatment for anxiety for some individuals. However, its effectiveness can vary depending on the individual, the specific nature of the anxiety, and the skill of the hypnotherapist. If considering this treatment, consulting with a qualified mental health professional can provide further insight and guidance.
What is the success rate of hypnosis for anxiety?
Quantifying a specific "success rate" for hypnosis in treating anxiety is challenging due to various reasons:
Research studies on hypnosis vary in methodologies; populations studied, and definitions of "success." This variability makes it hard to pinpoint a singular success rate.
The type of anxiety being treated can affect outcomes. For example, hypnosis might be more effective for specific phobias or situational anxiety (like pre-surgical anxiety) than generalised anxiety disorder or complex trauma-related anxiety.
Many individuals with anxiety also have other conditions, like depression, which can affect treatment outcomes.
Hypnotisability can vary among individuals. Those who are more susceptible to hypnosis might experience better outcomes.
The hypnotherapist's skills, techniques, and experience can significantly impact treatment outcomes.
While it's challenging to provide a definitive success rate, some studies and reviews on the topic offer insights:
Some research suggests that hypnosis can be as effective, if not more effective, than standard behavioural interventions for anxiety reduction in short-term applications (like reducing anxiety before medical procedures).
In the context of more persistent anxiety disorders, hypnosis might enhance treatment efficacy as an adjunct to cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) or other therapeutic modalities. For example, a review published in the "Journal of Clinical Psychology" in 2010 found that adding hypnosis to another treatment (like CBT) generally enhanced the treatment outcome for various conditions, including anxiety.
A 2006 meta-analysis of 18 studies on hypnosis for anxiety related to medical procedures found that hypnosis was more effective than standard care or no treatment. This suggests a favourable outcome for hypnosis in specific contexts.
However, it's essential to approach these findings with some caution. The field needs more rigorous, high-quality, randomised controlled trials to draw stronger conclusions about the efficacy of hypnosis for various types of anxiety and to establish a more concrete success rate.
If you are considering hypnotherapy for anxiety, it's vital to consult with a mental health professional or a certified hypnotherapist to discuss its potential benefits and limitations for your specific situation.
