Finding the services of the best hypnotherapist can be difficult if you have never experienced hypnotherapy before. And even if you have experienced it before and the outcome was negative, then there could be several explanations for this. Definitions of hypnosis and its use as a therapy are open to interpretation. And it goes without saying that every practising hypnotherapist is different to one another! What filters into yourtreatment will be a mix of the hypnotherapist’s life experiences, their hypnotherapy training, problem-solving ability, treatment experience, personal qualities etc. These are just some of the dynamics that live on the hypnotherapist’s side. Then consider what you bring into the treatment – your treatment issue and the specific background that individualises your problem. And not to mention the collaboration of all of these processes! Phew! When you take these various factors into account, it’s no wonder that it can be challenging weeding out the best hypnotherapist from a bad one.
When you want to find the best hypnotherapist, it can pay to do a bit of research.
Finding the best hypnotherapist is not rocket science, but it shouldn’t be done hastily either. Failing to vet your hypnotherapist could mean that you end up wasting your time and money. If you want your condition to be successfully treated using hypnotherapy, but have no idea how to choose the best hypnotherapist then read on...
The best hypnotherapist has hypnotherapy credentials
First ensure that your hypnotherapist is a member of a recognised hypnotherapy association. With a registered hypnotherapist, if you are unhappy with any part of your therapy, you can contact the association who will investigate your complaint.
Some of the bigger associations include the General Hypnotherapy Register and Complementary and Natural Healthcare Council. The CNHC register is approved as an accredited register by the Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care. This professional body is accountable to Parliament for maintaining standards of patient safety and service quality. Patients who ask medical staff to recommend a hypnotherapist have been advised by the Professional Standards Authority to recommend those hypnotherapists registered with the CNHC – how’s that for a seal of approval?
As a registered member of an association, your hypnotherapist will hold a recognised hypnotherapy qualification, professional indemnity insurance and will follow a strict code of ethics which will include maintaining Continued Professional Development. With the latter, it means that your hypnotherapist is actively developing their knowledge of hypnotherapy in practice and is probably passionate about their subject.
The best hypnotherapist has experience
An experienced hypnotherapist is more likely to have developed their knowledge, skills and expertise with “real” clients. In this experience, strategies are employed and techniques are refined with efficiency and effectiveness. With knowledge and practise comes confidence to appreciate what to do – and what not to do when treating different clients with different conditions. With experience, you can acknowledge how to manage the subtleties in each individual case.
How much experience is enough to develop confidence? In my opinion, a hypnotherapist who has worked five to ten years is developing their craft. That’s not to say that a novice cannot help a client, but they may still be in the experimental phase of their career where they “try this and see what happens...” The novice hypnotherapist feels less confident about adapting their treatment if your mind is not fully accepting their suggestions.
The quality of the experience is far more important than just the quantity of treatments given by your hypnotherapist however. The quality can be defined by dealing with a variety of medical conditions and having an understanding of their background causes. But the quality of that experience can also be affected by the hypnotherapist’s life experiences outside of hypnotherapy. Are you more convinced of a hypnotherapist’s treatment of your fear of public speaking if they have extensive experience of public speaking themselves? Do they have a medical or health-related background experience that helps them to understand what’s behind your presenting issue and not just understanding the presenting symptom?
Some hypnotherapists advertise that they specialise in treating certain conditions, having attended CPD workshops, extensively researched the condition or had personal experiences with the condition. This may “qualify” them to treat your condition more than a “general” hypnotherapist, but in practice it may only be evident that they are more qualified when you begin your course of therapy. This is because a symptom may be connected to other core issues e.g. a client’s weight gain (symptom) may be related to their low self esteem (core issue). A specialist in weight loss may have very little experience of treating low self esteem, whereas a general hypnotherapist with a wider knowledge base may be able to treat both issues effectively during the course of your treatment.
On the subject of experience, another important feature is that...
The best hypnotherapist has broken away from generalised scripts
The best hypnotherapist will personalise your hypnotherapy script.
As a member of the public, are you aware that one of the novice hypnotherapist’s basic tools is a pre-written generalised script? Yes, an “expert” hypnotherapist has used their experience to write a script called (for example) “panic attacks” and you can access these on YouTube and various phone apps to help you deal with your panic attacks. They may have been supplied on the hypnotherapy training course and can be found easily in hypnotherapy textbooks. The script features a mix of generalised and specific suggestions for treating “panic attacks”. Some of the generalised content will be ignored by you and some of the pertinent suggestions that connect with your issues will focus your mind into your issue and be more readily accepted. The novice hypnotherapist is likely to hypnotise you and then read the script verbatim as part of your treatment.
There’s nothing wrong with this approach; it’s still considered “hypnotherapy”. But the experienced hypnotherapist is likely to have developed a repertoire of “panic attack” suggestions and is confident enough to apply what has been discussed in the consultation into your individualised treatment “script”. This gives your treatment relevance and usually more positive change than an approach that is generalised with the hope of making a connection with you.
Please note that there is a multitude of dynamics in hypnotherapy that can influence a successful outcome in your treatment that includes using relevant personalised suggestions.
Another issue that can affect a successful outcome is...
The best hypnotherapist has a broad skill set
Using relevant personalised suggestions to help you achieve your goal is the building blocks of a hypnotherapy treatment. But when your unconscious mind partially accepts or resists these suggestions, does your hypnotherapist have other hypnotic techniques to assist you or do they continue with a generalised “relaxatherapy” session hoping that it does the trick? The best hypnotherapist can creatively employ a variety of techniques including regression, hypno-analysis, and the use of stories and metaphors to release blocks. They can work with your mind when progress is slowing down.
With experience, the effective use of these techniques can be adapted into your treatment quickly and confidently. The combination of a broad skill set and experience ensures your hypnotherapist can choose options to adapt your treatment program when issues develop in the moment. The unskilled novice is more likely to adopt a “one treatment fits all” approach.
Another issue that can influence a successful outcome is when...
The best hypnotherapist values the importance of building rapport
When you have a strong rapport with your hypnotherapist, you are more likely to accept their suggestions in the hypnotic induction and throughout your therapy. Building rapport is a two-way exchange of many dynamics that helps you feel that you “connect” with your hypnotherapist. When you have rapport with them, you trust them, you believe that they can help you, and you believe that they have the skills to treat your presenting condition.
Rapport is built during many stages of the treatment. It can happen in the enquiry stage when seeing an informative article about your condition, or when speaking on the phone or during an initial consultation. During these situations, there are many opportunities to offer you insights that they understand your problem and can help you. It continues throughout the treatment and is displayed by good listening skills, the hypnotherapist’s voice (an important tool in hypnotherapy), and even their non-verbal gestures. What your hypnotherapist says resonates strongly with you and develops a deep conviction that they are passionate about their subject, they understand your problem and they will assist you to achieve your goal.
Rapport is often helped by succinctly explaining what happens in your treatment and how you will benefit. It involves answering your questions and concerns about any aspect of the treatment in an open, honest and reassuring way. When there is rapport, it ensures that you feel confident and secure during all stages of your treatment.
Without rapport, the treatment process collapses. This can happen for a number of reasons including a mismatch of expectations. If given the opportunity, the best hypnotherapist will attempt to close that gap, but will readily accept that when there is a weak rapport, it’s better to refer the client on to another source of help.
Strongly connected to rapport is...
The best hypnotherapist has empathy
Showing an understanding of your presenting condition and the emotions that you bring into your treatment is just a small part of having empathy. An experienced hypnotherapist will demonstrate this understanding by asking appropriate questions but will also be prepared to listen to your individual responses, reassuring you of any concerns. The hypnotherapist’s listening skills may be part of their nature, part of their training or has been developed by dealing with real hypnotherapy clients. In whatever way that it has been acquired, you will very quickly feel this connection deepen when they have empathy (which is far more than just a feeling of sympathy). Your treatment will be explained in a way that helps you to understand what is going to happen and how you can benefit. When there is empathy, you feel ready to discuss your issues and trust that there will be no judgement from your hypnotherapist.
The best hypnotherapist is able to apply the right balance of hypnosis and therapy
The best hypnotherapist applies the right balance of hypnosis and therapy.
An understanding of “hypnotherapy” requires an understanding of both “hypnosis” and “therapy” to be able to achieve an effective hypnotic treatment. Some hypnotherapists make better “hypnotists” and others make better “therapists”. The balance of these two concepts can influence the hypnotherapist’s approach to your treatment. This balance can usually be found in their advertising literature but becomes obvious very quickly in the hypnotherapy treatment stages. “Hypnotists” emphasise the power of hypnosis over you to create change, whereas “therapists” emphasise the power within you to help you change.
Whether the style of approach comes from the hypnotherapist’s personality e.g. extrovert/introvert, their training, or their experience in practice, the ability to adapt the approach to the individual is important. It will influence the building of rapport (see above) particularly when it meets your expectation about hypnotherapy. Where they “sit” on the continuum of hypnosis and therapy, and where you feel comfortable with their position will influence a successful therapeutic outcome.
The best hypnotherapist is not (exclusively) a stage hypnotist offering hypnotherapy
A stage hypnotist’s art is entertainment and some of it can be very entertaining. But does a stage hypnotist’s skill transfer into therapy? A stage hypnotist who dabbles in hypnotherapy may not have undergone any “therapy” training or supervision. That’s not to say that they can’t help people lose weight and quit smoking, for example, by using suggestions targeting those respective conditions. It’s when those conditions are connected to deeper emotional issues like depression or low self esteem where the symptomatic “quick-fix” has limited affect and can expose an underlying emotional issue that needs continued support. As mentioned in the previous point regarding the “balance of hypnosis and therapy”, if you really want an exclusive stage hypnotist to “use their hypnotic powers” to treat you, then you can make an informed choice when their hypnotic modality is openly advertised.
Most respectable hypnotists and hypnotherapists will advertise their profession, the conditions they treat, their location and their professional association membership. The latter can be verified by spending a bit of time researching the stated hypnotherapy association online.
Some hypnotherapy associations will not permit membership for those who perform stage hypnosis, whilst others are open to membership provided that the hypnotist/hypnotherapist has a relevant hypnotherapy qualification.
The best hypnotherapist does not make exaggerated claims about hypnotherapy
Wouldn’t life be easy if...when you have an emotional or behavioural problem, you consult with a hypnotherapist, they “put you under” and the problem is fixed! This is the view often portrayed in the popular media with anecdotes of miraculous changes that happened in one session.
Hypnotherapy is generally considered a short-term therapy (in relation to other talking therapies) and can often produce rapid results when a number of therapeutic conditions are in place. The problem comes when a hypnotherapist advertises a “quick-fix” guarantee without any prior knowledge of your presenting problem and historical background.
When you are desperate, it can seem tempting to sign them up for a quick fix, but therapeutic change usually takes a few sessions of hypnotherapy, and here’s why: Advertising that a condition like smoking cessation will “be treated in one session” for example assumes that the hypnotic approach has been scientifically tested and controls were in place when it was researched. But very few hypnotherapy treatment strategies have been tested in this way. It is difficult to reliably test hypnotherapy because it involves so many variables (as mentioned in the introduction). Thus you are unlikely to create a guarantee that everyone will get the same outcome regardless of what the client brings to the treatment process.
As an additional point, when you are desperate to have a condition treated, it’s easy to misread an advert that states: your condition “can be...” treated in so many sessions. You are likely to interpret it as it “will be…” treated in the stated number of sessions, only to be disappointed when your treatment takes longer than you originally thought.
Choosing the best hypnotherapist – other considerations
Cheaper might seem better, but are you getting the best treatment?
This section is less about what makes the best hypnotherapist and more about the other issues that might limit your choice when making an appointment with the best hypnotherapist.
Treatment costs – Prior to booking, ensure that you are fully aware of the cost, the length of each session, and methods of payment. Cheaper fees may seem attractive at first but could end up being money down the drain with a hypnotherapist who lacks the experience to deal with your presenting condition. Likewise, you don’t want to book with a hypnotherapist who charges extortionate fees without there being a good justification. In my opinion, a fee that is say, five times the average fee would almost need to offer a guarantee to justify the cost.
Paying upfront for a course of hypnotherapy – Be wary of paying upfront for a course of hypnotherapy sessions to save money before you have even met the hypnotherapist. It’s wise to try one or two sessions first and then review how your treatment is progressing without a huge initial financial commitment. Since each course of hypnotherapy can vary between one client and another, paying upfront for a course can be called into question. What are the terms if you achieve your goal early or wish to terminate your treatment early? Is there an option of a pro rata refund (which would seem fair)?
Type of practice – Consider if you would prefer to have your treatment in an established practice or the hypnotherapist’s home. Clients usually feel more secure in a practice and often feel that the whole treatment process is more professional. The location of the practice is something that is usually identified early in your research. Google tends to favour proximity when you search online. It’s obviously convenient having a practice close to you, but some treatments are worth the journey when it gets results.
Cancellation policy – Ensure that you understand the terms of any cancellation policy. A hypnotherapist who rents from a professional practice is more likely to have stricter cancellation terms. This is not surprising when the hypnotherapist will have paid a rental fee to accommodate your session and will lose that fee if you do not attend.
Availability – Check that the hypnotherapist can be available at the times and days to suit you. Their general availability to maintain continuity between each session is also important. Hypnotherapists who practise part time or who have various other non-clinical commitments may not be able to maintain a treatment schedule to help you.
Your past hypnotherapy experiences – When you have had a bad experience of anything, it’s easy to over-generalise the experience and extend that feeling of failure to all. With a previous negative outcome with hypnotherapy some might say “I had hypnotherapy once and it didn’t work, so I’ve done hypnotherapy now!” There are good and bad hypnotherapists, just as there are good and bad medical practitioners. The results that you get will only be as good as the individual hypnotherapist treating you. Some clients are also ready to admit that with a previous attempt to change a habit like smoking for example, they were not ready or motivated to quit smoking when they tried to stop smoking with hypnotherapy maybe ten years earlier.
The value of personal recommendation – A personal recommendation from someone you know can build trust and belief into your own treatment process with the recommended hypnotherapist. Even with a personal recommendation however, it’s still advisable to go into the treatment with an open mind and respect that everyone’s background and presenting condition is different.
Keeping an open mind is particularly significant when the person recommending you made rapid progress in their treatment. This might influence you to expect the same rapid outcome for yourself. If you don’t get the same results, it’s not uncommon to think that you have personally failed the treatment in some way. This is not the case however; no two situations are identical in hypnotherapy.
And finally...Trusting your gut feeling usually works – Trusting your gut feeling is often considered a good basis from which to make a decision. When choosing the best hypnotherapists too, it’s a good format to use. Take note of some of the points in this article and do a reasonable amount of research to find the best hypnotherapist for you.
For further information on how hypnotherapy can help you, contact Richard J D’Souza Hypnotherapy Cardiff.
A question that I am often asked is whether there is funding available for your hypnotherapy treatment through the NHS. Even though some hypnotherapists are registered NHS providers, currently hypnotherapy is not usually available through the NHS.
If you were to ask your general practitioner to recommend a hypnotherapist, they may suggest using a hypnotherapist approved by the Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care, a body accountable to Parliament to regulate standards of professional practice. Hypnotherapists who are registered with the Complementary and Natural Healthcare Council are recognised by the Professional Standards Authority as meeting the UK standards of patient safety and service quality. So you will get a recommendation from your general practitioner but funding your hypnotherapy treatment will still need to be paid by you.
If you are seeking general therapy in Cardiff (but not hypnotherapy) from your general practitioner, they are likely to place you on a waiting list. You may be seen by the Primary Mental Health Support Service, administrated by the Cardiff and Vale Action for Mental Health. If you are under 18 years of age, you will be placed on a waiting list and be referred to the CAMHS (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service). In some cases you may be able to refer yourself to the above – chat to your GP for further advice.
Funding for your hypnotherapy treatment using Private Health Cash Plans
You can get funding for your hypnotherapy treatment using Private Health Cash Plans
There are a growing number of health insurance companies offering private health cash plans that will reimburse part or all of the costs of hypnotherapy treatments not funded by the NHS, or by private health insurance policies. These private health cash plans can be funded by your employer or purchased individually by you for yourself and members of your family. Each company offering private health cash plans will have varying levels of coverage for which they will reimburse your costs over an annual period.
The following Private Health Cash Plan providers recognise hypnotherapists registered with the Complementary and Natural Healthcare Council, of which I am a registered member (please click the link in the website footer).
(Disclaimer – the following listed health cash plan provider companies are correct at the time of writing this article, summarised from the CNHC, last updated July 2019. These companies may change their policies without notice to the public or to the CNHC. Please contact the individual company to verify that the condition in which you are claiming reimbursement is accepted prior to starting your hypnotherapy treatment. No refunds for your hypnotherapy treatment will be given where there are any disputes about reimbursement between you and your health cash plan provider company).
Medicash – provide health cash plans for individuals and businesses, covering 50% of your treatment costs up to a set limit per year, depending on the health cash plan.
The Health Insurance Group – a broker that will find the best health cash plan for you or your business.
Pure Benefits – provide corporate health cash plans through Medicash (https://www.purebenefits.co.uk/product/health-cash-plan/ - Password needed to enter site).
Westfield Health – provide reimbursement for a limited number of corporate health cash plans.
Health Shield – provide reimbursement on specified corporate paid plans.
Elect – working with Health Shield, Elect provide reimbursement for hypnotherapy on their health cash plans.
Paycare – provide reimbursement for hypnotherapy on all of their health cash plans, up to an annual limit of £150 depending on the level of coverage.
Other health cash plan companies – there are other companies that list hypnotherapy as a treatment available for reimbursement on their health cash plans e.g. SMP Healthcare. Other companies may not list hypnotherapy as a therapy available for reimbursement, but may consider it on a case by case basis when an application is made. To be eligible for reimbursement for hypnotherapy, your condition must usually be at an acute stage and referred by your GP or company medical representative.
Funding for your hypnotherapy treatment: what conditions can be treated?
Check with your private health cash plan company if they will accept hypnotherapy to treat your condition
As mentioned above, a referral from your GP or company medical representative will usually ensure that your hypnotherapy treatment is considered medically necessary and eligible for reimbursement. A diagnosis would usually indicate that you are suffering from stress, anxiety or depression in some way and it is affecting your personal quality of life and/or ability to work.
Some of the conditions that I have previously treated include anxiety, stress, depression, insomnia, post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety following an accident, panic attacks, smoking cessation, anger management, relationship issues and substance abuse (addictions). But other conditions may be accepted depending on the strong case that you make for your treatment with your GP and health cash plan company.
Your GP’s approval will be easier if they know that your hypnotherapist is a member of the Complementary and Natural Healthcare Council.
Funding for your hypnotherapy treatment: procedure
Make your application and receive your formal notification that part or all of your hypnotherapy treatment can be reimbursed through your health cash plan. Then contact me using the Contact Form stating that part or all of your treatment is eligible for reimbursement.
A formal receipt including any of your reference numbers can be given at the end of each consultation or at the end of your hypnotherapy course of treatment. Please specify if you would like a paper copy or email copy of your receipt.
You would send each receipt to your health cash plan company and they would reimburse the cost up to a certain amount within an annual period. Processing time of each receipt can vary between each health cash plan company.
For more information about funding for your hypnotherapy treatment using private health cash plans contact Richard J D’Souza Hypnotherapy Cardiff.
Anticipatory anxiety is a symptom of other anxiety disordersAnticipatory Anxiety is a symptom that creates and maintains the various forms of anxiety disorder including phobias, panic disorder and generalised anxiety. It is characterised by a heightened state of alertness and obsessive worry before a stressful event is about to happen. You can waste hours or even days going through every possibility of the upcoming event, running “what if...”- scenarios without being able to focus on a helpful solution.
Whether it is a job interview, a social meeting, or a public speech, anticipatory anxiety will take over your mind for the remaining period of time that you have left before the event starts. In its essence, anticipatory anxiety happens because of your nature to try to predict how things will happen and your attempt to remain safe from harm. We are individuals who make use of anticipation to function well in everyday life, but someone with this form of anxiety expects a lot of these situations to be real disasters or catastrophes. This state is also reinforced when past experiences in life have left you with a deep sense of disappointment or shame that has sunk into your unconscious mind. Now, the unconscious alerts you with this stressful anticipation to avoid similar episodes and their associated recurring anxious feelings again in the future.
How does anticipatory anxiety affect you?
Anticipatory anxiety influences you to obsess about the catastrophic scenarios that are likely to happen. Avoidance tactics are considered to prevent your future distress. You might even lose focus on the tasks you are required to prepare and end up being haunted by what can humiliate you and guarantee your failure. You are generally fooled into believing that these anxious situations will happen, when in reality they rarely do happen.
Anticipatory anxiety can create constant “butterflies”
The physical symptoms of anxiety can be triggered at an early stage of knowledge of the event. You are likely to have varying degrees of stomach “butterflies”, sweaty palms, and a racing heart (palpitations). The body can get very distressed because of these symptoms, and as a result, anticipatory anxiety becomes a huge physical discomfort to your well-being. These symptoms, moreover, become a serious form of anticipatory anxiety when you begin to focus on them in ordinary and daily events, and for long sustained periods of time.
It is normal for people to have reasonable levels of worry about important future events, but the alertness should resolve itself as the event passes. With the prolonged form of anticipatory anxiety, the symptoms persist much after the event. And the more debilitating this anxiety gets, the more you will experience psychological problems too. For example, you may develop insomnia, depression and constant panic attacks. Eventually, if anticipatory anxiety has been experienced for periods of more than a month, it becomes a chronic state of anticipatory anxiety.
What causes anticipatory anxiety?
Many of the causes that contribute to developing anticipatory anxiety are related to past experiences. At some point in your life, you were faced with experiences that aroused extreme fear or a suffocating shame within you. Such experiences, if they get reinforced, tend to set deep roots in your psyches and render you avoidant and phobic to those stressful events in the future.
In addition, some people may develop panic attacks that build up because of extreme stress. With the knock on effect of this situation and repeated negative reactions, the sufferer becomes not only afraid of the events, but also of your own anxiety symptoms or the panic attacks. As a consequence, you become locked into this fear of symptom-reaction or “panic about panic”. It can render some sufferers helpless influencing a state of agoraphobia in its progression.
General anxiety is not excluded from this either. If anxiety troubles you at every turn in your life, anticipatory anxiety becomes a symptom of it when too many stressful incidents keep giving you anxiety symptoms. Furthermore, anticipatory anxiety may not be just conscious but may descend into an unconscious form when it creeps into your dreams. Thus, it is very advisable for any person suffering from it to learn about some of the coping techniques that reduce this anxiety and eventually break you out of the cycle of anticipatory anxiety.
Coping with Anticipatory Anxiety
Primarily, anticipatory anxiety can be seen as a state of mind where different ideas are affecting your psyche. It is a line of emotional thinking that zooms in on all the disastrous and negative outcomes that can harm your self-esteem and well-being. Let’s briefly explore some common coping techniques. They all need further development and practise to be helpful in dealing with your anticipatory anxiety.
A powerful way to bring the anxiety into a halt is to interrupt the emotional anxious thinking with positive thinking. It won’t be apparent to you how much effect a positive thought can help you until you can employ and master the use of them. The state of mind suddenly shifts to a stronger and more relieving way of thinking. In other words, the anticipation can be translated into a positive reality as this immediately stops the physical stress and breaks the habit of anxious “over-thinking”.
Another technique that can reduce this anxiety is the act of changing your focus of attention. When your attention has been set on something completely different, the anticipatory anxiety stops taking over your mind and has fewer effects on you. Moreover, a change of focus of attention can give you the strength to not succumb to excessive worry. This is because your selected attention decides what mindset you can have.
Mindfulness can help you cope with anticipatory anxiety
The use of your attention, though, need not be limited to motivating thoughts. You can reduce the anticipatory anxiety even by focusing on the nature of your anxiety or your breath, without analysing it or judging it, just becoming mindful of it. This is the basis of mindfulness.
Lastly, you can ask questions that alter your mode of thinking to balance out the negative anticipation. For instance, you may ask about the possible good things that can happen in the short-term and long-term if those bad scenarios might happen. Or by accepting that it’s going to be bad anyway, you can ask yourself how you may recover from the situation and build coping resources in the process. In so doing, you can motivate your state of mind to drop the anxiety and entertain the confident ideas and expectation that you deserve to have.
More self help techniques can be found here: ways to deal with anticipatory anxiety.
How can hypnotherapy help you deal with anticipatory anxiety?
Hypnotherapy can break your obsessive thinking patterns
As you become more anxious, your view of reality will favour that which confirms your anxious reality; in your anticipation, you become convinced that these catastrophes will ensue. In the relaxed state of hypnosis, you can detach this reality and be helped to view the positive alternatives.
Hypnotherapy can help you to visualise the anticipated event as a successful event
Positive visualisation changes the neural pathways in your brain. When you can picture the dreaded event e.g. a public speaking presentation, as one in which you are coping with, the journey leading up to the event can feel less traumatising. With less anticipation, you can then be left to cope with the event itself, accessing the resources needed to deal with the demands in that moment. Hypnotherapy is an excellent way to assist your visualisation abilities enabling you to maximise the potential of your imagination.
Hypnotherapy can help you reframe your past experiences
When you have anticipatory anxiety, the emotions from past traumatic events continue to alert you to similar situations to prepare for another upset, sometimes exaggerating the nature of the future event. But when the emotions from those past traumas are reframed and released, they can become experiences to learn from. Using regression techniques, hypnotherapy can be used to revisit an “open” negative past experience, safely reprocess its meaning and close the event so that you can view future situations as challenges.
Hypnotherapy can be used to restructure your avoidance strategies
Avoidance is one of the main symptoms of anticipatory anxiety. Whilst the “avoidance voice” is there to protect you from harm in the short term, it creates a bigger obstacle to overcome in the long term. Hypnotherapy can use analytical methods to access the decisive “parts” in your mind and employ their resilience to confront the situations that you would previously seek to avoid.
Hypnotherapy can be used to alleviate your physical anticipatory anxiety symptomsHypnotherapy can alleviate your anticipatory physical symptoms
Your physical anxiety symptoms like heart palpitations and tense breathing patterns can convince you that your fear is “real”. Hypnotherapy can used to alleviate your physical symptoms and view them as separate from your current distress, helping you to feel relaxed and ready to confront the situation when needed.
Summary
In summary, anticipatory anxiety is one of the psychological disorders that can burden your life. Most of the time, it becomes nurtured because of the stressful life that you have led in your past or through some developed phobias e.g. social phobia.
Your past experiences may overwhelm you now because you previously lacked the tools to handle emotional situations back then. That’s why it’s important to appreciate what anticipatory anxiety is, how the various symptoms can affect you and be ready to confront those situations that cause you excessive worry. Then, you can learn relevant coping techniques and apply them when anticipatory anxiety is dominating your life.
Furthermore, it is important to seek professional help if you are struggling with anticipatory anxiety in your daily life. Coping techniques can place you back into a measure of stability. Therapy such as hypnotherapy can strengthen and help you develop new coping strategies in a relatively short treatment course.
For further information on how hypnotherapy can help you deal with anticipatory anxiety, contact Richard J D’Souza Hypnotherapy Cardiff.
Choose Hypnotherapy Cowbridge & Cardiff to treat your condition
Choose hypnotherapy Cowbridge & Cardiff to achieve your therapeutic goal
Are you suffering with anxiety or stress-related conditions? Are you seeking to change unwanted habits, remove phobias or cope better with emotional issues like depression? You may not have considered hypnotherapy as a viable treatment for your problems, but you’ll be surprised what hypnotherapy can treat. If it falls into the category of thought-based, emotional or behavioural issues, then hypnotherapy can help you address this.
Forget those outdated concepts of swinging watches, trance-like hypnotic states in which you get stuck and mind-controlling experiences where you tell your hypnotherapist your secrets from your past. Hypnotherapy, as a respected form of therapy, has moved on from these common misconceptions with research-based evidence of its effectiveness.
Put simply, hypnotherapy is state of deep relaxation characterised by focused concentration. When you are in hypnosis, you are more receptive to the suggestions given by the hypnotherapist. Suggestions are the basic mind-tools that are used to focus you towards your positive therapeutic goal. When you visualise your positive state, you are more likely to create it! There are many more techniques that a skilled hypnotherapist can employ to release past negative blocks that are inhibiting you, identify the cause of your condition or work with your mind to break down negative thoughts.
Hypnotherapy Cowbridge & Cardiff can help you achieve your goal
Will hypnotherapy work for me?
Hypnotherapy, like all other talking therapies, requires a level of commitment and dedication to be effective. Contrary to popular belief, hypnotherapy cannot make you do something that you do not want to do.
Built into the hypno-therapeutic process are a range of other therapy modalities that complements how hypnotherapy can be applied to treat youas an individual e.g. Psychotherapy, Counselling and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy.
Most people are responsive to hypnosis when they understand what it is and what it feels like. The interaction between you and the hypnotherapist then builds that connection (rapport) to increase your level of suggestibility necessary to accelerate change. You can find out more information about hypnotherapy using this hypnosis test, and in the article that follows it.
What happens in your first Hypnotherapy Cowbridge & Cardiff consultation?
The early stages of your first treatment are important information-gathering stages to ensure that what you want to change (your goals) is fully understood. Some of the important background history and lifestyle issues are also explored to identify how your symptoms are affecting you and to help assess the severity of your condition. Any issues relating to hypnosis are discussed prior to the hypnotic induction in which suggestions are used to treat your condition.
Minor issues can be treated relatively quickly using hypnosis. Follow-up sessions are often needed to treat issues that are more deep-rooted.
What makes Hypnotherapy Cowbridge & Cardiff stand out from the rest?
Experience – You can be assured that you will get the best out of 20 years of clinical experience and understanding treating clients with similar and differing conditions.
Expertise – With this extensive experience, numerous advanced hypnotic techniques have been developed and refined to create rapid results for your treatment.
Professionalism – You will be experiencing the highest standards of hypnotherapy practice. Professional registrations are held with the following top hypnotherapy associations: The General Hypnotherapy Register, The Hypnotherapy Association, and Complementary & Natural Healthcare Council.
If you want further clarification about our expertise you can find us listed as one of three best rated hypnotherapists in Cardiff.
Here’s what one of our past clients say about Hypnotherapy Cowbridge & Cardiff
“I went to see Richard at a time when I was desperate for help. I was suffering from anxiety, stress, and panic attacks. I was paralysed with fear, especially when flying. I was taking antidepressants for years. His sessions helped me enormously. I learned so much about myself, and with his help and encouragement, I overcame my fears. He has had a huge impact on my life! He is a true professional in what he does. I am forever grateful.”
Mrs. Mary Mouzakis, Merchandiser
Hypnotherapy Cowbridge & Cardiff setting the highest standards of hypnotherapy practice
The Therapy Centre: Hypnotherapy Cowbridge & Cardiff
Making an appointment
After completing the Contact Form with an outline of your condition, you may wish to discuss your issues on the phone or by email. If you still have further points that you wish to raise, you can arrange a free brief initial consultation and meet at the practice.
Hypnotherapy Cowbridge & Cardiff: Location of Practice
The Therapy Centre is less than half an hour’s journey by car along the A48 and then using the A4232. The practice is well-established, offering a number of traditional and complementary therapy services.
Find out more about how hypnotherapy can help you achieve your goals. Richard J D’Souza is the senior hypnotherapist at Hypnotherapy Cowbridge & Cardiff.
Do you have anxiety-related conditions, psycho-social problems, or unwanted habits that you want help with? If you do, then you can benefit from a Hypnotherapy Aberdare & Cardiff treatment.
Choose hypnotherapy Aberdare & Cardiff to achieve your therapeutic goal
Hypnotherapy has been proven to be an effective remedy for the many conditions. It is also beneficial against sleep disorders, phobias, anxiety-related skin conditions, and fatigue-related problems. It can even help with goal setting or boosting your self-confidence. So, dispose of those outdated concepts that you often see in films; your hypnotherapy treatment is highly professional and designed to help you achieve your goal.
Preparing yourself for a hypnotherapy Aberdare & Cardiff treatment
Before anything else, let us congratulate you on taking this first step towards making a life change! You can succeed with hypnotherapy, but first, prepare yourself to get the most out of each hypnotherapy session.
Doing your homework
Knowing what to expect in your hypnotherapy consultation will accelerate your treatment. That is why Hypnotherapy Aberdare & Cardiff recommends that you make an informed choice and gather all the information you need about hypnotherapy – how it works and what to expect in your treatment, particularly if you are new to hypnotherapy.
Browse our dedicated pages on hypnosis and hypnotherapy. You will find many of your questions answered in the frequently asked questions page.
Take the hypnosis test
How suggestible are you to hypnosis? Try this hypnosis test and find out more about your level of suggestibility and what to expect in your hypnotherapy treatment.
Making your hypnotherapy Aberdare & Cardiff appointment
Making an appointment with us is quick and easy. You can send an email using the Contact form or call the mobile number. You can even send a quick text or email using the details found in the bottom of this page. We are happy to discuss your issues or goals over phone, by email or in an initial consultation to ensure that you are getting the very best professional hypnotherapy treatment.
Once a hypnotherapy appointment has been agreed, it can be confirmed using the online deposit link.
We only offer the highest level of hypnotherapy!
What makes Hypnotherapy Aberdare & Cardiff stand out from the rest?
You are choosing a professional hypnotherapy service that has been crafted for over twenty years. With experience comes the ability to match the most appropriate hypnotherapy technique for you, your background history and the condition that you want treated. Whether using analytical, regression-based, or solution-focused hypnotherapy, you can expect that we have techniques that will match your situation and is treated by experts in the field of hypnotherapy.
You can be assured that the hypnotherapy training and continuing professional development meets the approval of some of the top hypnotherapy associations. That’s why Hypnotherapy Aberdare & Cardiff is a registered member of the Complementary & Natural Healthcare Council, the Hypnotherapy Association, and the General Hypnotherapy Register.
If you are in doubt about our expertise you can also find us listed as one of three best rated hypnotherapists in Cardiff.
What are previous clients saying about Hypnotherapy Aberdare & Cardiff?
“Having phobias nearly all my life, struggling with anxiety, panic and stress, I felt that I could not take any more.Richard helped me by giving me coping strategies to deal with my phobias when I went out. He has helped me to come to terms with my past and helped me to deal with other situations. Discussing my problems and giving me home-tasks to do each week has helped me to live a better quality of life.I am now much more confident and positive. Thank you.”
Rosemary Gillard, student counsellor
The Therapy Centre: Hypnotherapy Aberdare & Cardiff
Make a small journey for a life change
Travelling to your appointment is worth it when you get the expert help that you need. Travelling by car is just over half an hour’s journey South along A4059 and A470.
The Therapy Centre is a well-established therapy practice offering traditional and complementary therapy treatments to the local community.
Find out more about hypnotherapy and how it can help you achieve your therapeutic goal. Richard J D’Souza is the senior hypnotherapist at Hypnotherapy Aberdare & Cardiff.
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