Can Hypnotherapy help with fear?
In my early twenties, I struggled with confidence and focus, and my fear of failure prevented me from making progress towards my goals. My low self-esteem led to tumultuous relationships and bad decisions. It was my mother who suggested I try hypnotherapy to address my issues.
During my hypnotherapy sessions, I learned that my fear was an imagined projection of the future that didn't exist. My focus on failure had made it impossible to make decisions towards my goals. My excessive drinking had become a coping mechanism for stress, leading to cyclical negative behaviour and a depletion in my physical and emotional health. Once I had an understanding of what was going on in my mind, I was able to put it aside.
Fear can serve as a defense mechanism and can actually be helpful in some situations, such as when it alerts us to potential danger and prompts us to take precautions to avoid harm.
However, it is also true that fear can hold us back from trying new things, taking risks, or pursuing our goals. This can happen when our fear becomes excessive or irrational, causing us to avoid situations or activities that are not actually dangerous.
It's important to distinguish between helpful fear and unhelpful fear, and to learn to manage our fear so that it doesn't prevent us from living the life we want.
The hypnotherapist helped me imagine how I'd like to move forward in an ideal world, and what steps I could take to get there. This playful exercise immediately made me feel hopeful and allowed me to notice opportunities that I hadn't seen before. Through hypnotherapy, I was able to work with neuroplasticity, the brain's ability to change.
Moving forward, when I felt fear or nervousness reemerge, I learned to reframe it into "calm excitement" using a visualization technique.
Talking to a trusted person in a safe space, organising my thoughts, and relaxing were all simple but effective methods for managing my fears and achieving my goals. By taking control of my thoughts and focusing on my ideal future, I was able to notice and go for opportunities that led me towards it.
by Ella Wolfman Hypnotherapy Directory