What Counselling is best for anxiety?
Hypnotherapy is the best treatment for anxiety. CBT is often recommended, but hypnotherapy incorporates CBT and is much more effective. Hypnosis is often used in medical settings to help patients feel more in control by inducing feelings of calmness, safety and security, leading to better outcomes and less pain for patients.
Anxiety problems are very common, but too often we don’t talk about our anxieties, and imagine we are weird or silly. In fact, there is always a logical reason for our anxiety. Therapy is there to help you understand the original cause, and teach you new ways of dealing with your emotions, so you feel in control of yourself, and naturally much less anxious.
Understanding is a magic key, and once you understand the reasons for your anxiety, you can take control, let go of these old, unwanted feelings, and replace them with positive, confident feelings.
You may be surprised at just how easy it is for you to be able to control your anxiety, just by focusing on simple breathing techniques and imagination. I help you imagine situations and scenarios that you have previously avoided or felt anxious in, and encourage you to choose changes to those situations, to experience feeling really confident, calm, relaxed and in control of yourself.
If you are experiencing panic attacks, worrying all the time, having obsessive thoughts or behaviour, or avoiding social situations then hypnotherapy may be the answer for you. Anxiety medication may seem to relieve your symptoms, but it does not actually fix your anxiety and fear.
Many people self-medicate using alcohol and/or recreational drugs to ease their anxiety. Alcohol actually makes you more depressed and anxious, although, in the very short term, it can make you feel better. Please try therapy as your first treatment.
Anxiety medications commonly prescribed include:
- Paroxetine, brand name Seroxat
- Escitalopram, brand name Cipralex
- Sertraline, brand name Zoloft
These medications are called SSRIs or selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors and are usually the first medication you will be prescribed.
SSRIs work by increasing the level of serotonin in your brain. Usually, you will start on a low dose which may be gradually increased by your GP and it can take between two and four weeks for you to feel the benefit.
There are other medications you can be prescribed if SSRIs prove ineffective for you, your GP is there to help you.
All medicines have side effects, some of which wear off within a few weeks, but if you are concerned please discuss it with your GP.
Unless you experience severe side effects you should not suddenly stop your medication but adopt a gradual withdrawal, again take advice from your GP.
The most effective treatment of anxiety problems and disorders is therapy, whether hypnotherapy, CBT or counselling. Therapy helps you discover and understand the underlying causes of your anxiety and fears, in turn that understanding enables you to choose and develop positive coping strategies, so you feel so much more confident, calm, relaxed and in control.
You learn to use your breathing to calm and relax your body and mind, enabling clearer thinking and decision-making. You then view situations in a calm and positive way when you’re relaxed, so the anxiety and fears simply dissipate.
It is perfectly normal to feel a level of anxiety before an important event, and hypnotherapy teaches you how to review the situation in advance and to experience that imagining in real time.
Remember the words “What the mind expects tends to happen”. Very important words – if you are used to experiencing anxiety and fear in a particular situation, then you are likely to feel it each time. By using hypnotherapy you are changing that old expectation into a new and positive expectation, learning new ways of being and doing. You learn to be assertive and decisive, confident and always calm and relaxed and enjoy your life and relationships. As you become more confident and calmer you attract people to you as they enjoy your calm approach to life, so all your relationships become closer and more rewarding.
Your therapy will be tailored to your specific needs, so the number of sessions will vary depending on whether you have mild anxiety or have been diagnosed with PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) or OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder). The average number of sessions is between 8 and 10.
Having worked with clients for over 30 years I know just how effective and life-altering therapy can be. It is always easier than you probably believe. Please call Diana Parkinson, Anxiety Counselling Services to book an appointment.
