Tag: anxiety

Depression Relief

Depression is one of the most common mental illnesses in our society and treatment often requires a lot of trial and error. Depression is commonly treated with a variety of medications, supplements, and therapy, but these treatments can take 6-12 weeks to show any improvement. Hypnosis is a valuable supplement to these options to cover the times when treatment isn’t working and prevent relapses.

Depressed people often experience a high degree of anxiety, troublesome physical symptoms, and negative self-perceptions that hypnosis can relieve. Relaxation is at the core of hypnosis and can be taught relatively quickly to alleviate anxiety and improve sleep. Hypnotic suggestions can also be used to strengthen self-esteem and motivation, which tend to be low in depressed patients, and to expand awareness of emotions beyond the negative. Most importantly, the process of hypnosis shows patients the power of their own mind and instills hope that their depression can be treated. 

Pervasive Phobias

If you have a phobia, you probably know how tricky they can make everyday life. An irrational fear of something specific, a phobia causes significant stress and anxiety that prompts a person to avoid the thing they fear as much as possible. People with phobias spend a lot of time thinking about the thing they fear, which in turn causes anxiety and in some cases negative health consequences.

Fortunately, hypnosis offers a solution to those with phobias. During hypnosis the body feels relaxed and comfortable, making it easier to handle thoughts about the phobia. Over multiple sessions a hypnotherapist can help you imagine the thing you’re afraid of with increasing specificity while pairing the images with sensations and images of relaxation, eventually teaching your body and mind to respond with calm instead of anxiety.

Hypnosis can also remind you of the previous instances in your life in which you had safe encounters with the source of the phobia: for instance, all the times you saw a spider on the wall but weren’t harmed. The process is often more comfortable than exposure therapy and gives you the confidence to manage or eliminate the phobia.