Hypnotherapy for Anxiety
Anxiety is an important emotion which serves a purpose. However, in our modern, chaotic lives, anxiety can quickly overwhelm us.
Anxiety: Find Relief with Hypnotherapy
A healthy level of anxiety keeps us alert to real-world dangers and prevents us from taking dangerous, unnecessary risks.
When kept in check, it gets us out of bed in the morning and moving forward with our lives.
Our minds are designed to be triggered by anxiety infrequently, and for short bursts, allowing us to take action and close the “stress loop”.
However, modern life can constantly trigger us, and we seldom get the opportunity to take action to close out the “stress loop.”
When anxiety takes over us it can overwhelm us. It can affect anyone, bringing about overwhelming worry, self-doubt, and a sense of fear that disrupts daily life. It becomes like a hypnotic trance, with the subconscious mind trapping you in a downward spiral.
A solution-focused hypnotherapy approach can help you gain control over anxiety, letting you move forward with calm and confidence.
Types of Anxiety We Can Help You Overcome
Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)
GAD often involves persistent and excessive worrying about various aspects of life—work, health, relationships, and daily tasks. Symptoms can include restlessness, fatigue, difficulty concentrating, and muscle tension.
Social Anxiety
Social anxiety creates intense fear or discomfort in social situations, making it difficult to connect with others or speak confidently in public. This can lead to avoidance of social gatherings, isolation, and feelings of low self-worth.
3. Panic Attacks and Panic Disorder
Panic attacks are sudden and intense surges of fear, often with physical symptoms like shortness of breath, a racing heart, or dizziness. Panic disorder is when these attacks recur unexpectedly, leading to fear of future attacks.
How Solution-Focused Hypnotherapy Works
Solution-focused hypnotherapy blends relaxation techniques with a positive, goal-focused approach, helping you:
Identify your desired outcomes
Break negative thought patterns
Increase resilience and mental clarity
Sessions focus on the future you want, rather than past problems, creating a tailored plan to help you move forward without anxiety.
How Can Hypnotherapy Help With Anxiety
Solution Focused Hypnotherapy can help calm the anxious primitive mind and bring fear under control. We'll explore why you feel fearful and what you can do to address it. We’ll also work on creating an empowering alternative narrative, helping you visualize a preferred future free from fear, and take small, manageable steps toward that vision.
For more specific fears, we can use quick, safe techniques to calm the emotional reactions associated with particular fear triggers. Finally, we engage the subconscious mind through hypnosis, reinforcing the desired future.
These techniques are grounded in proven brain science, utilizing a natural process that can effectively neutralize the fear response.
Stephen Hardy
DSFH, HPD, AfSFH, MNCH Reg.
I’m a clinical solution-focused hypnotherapist and coach.
My mission is to help people have more fulfilling, fun lives and careers.
As a clinical hypnotherapist, I work with both the conscious and subconscious minds, using a combination of Solution Focused Hypnotherapy, CBT, and Neuroscience, mixed in with my experience of working in senior corporate positions.
The goal is to enable rapid positive change, through helping clients reframe their thinking, and creating new patterns of behaviour. It’s a positive, fun approach.
Testimonials
Free Discovery Call
We'll spend 30 minutes exploring your current challenges and establishing whether Solution-Focused Hypnotherapy is a good fit for you.
The relationship between a therapist and a client is fundamental to the success of any engagement. This is an opportunity to get to know me and find out if my style of engagement would work for you.
You will gain a fresh perspective on what's been holding you back, and confidence in your ability to move forward in life.
An opportunity for you to ask me any questions or address any concerns you may have.
FAQs
What is Solution-Focused Hypnotherapy? How does it differ from more traditional therapy?
Solution-Focused Hypnotherapy is a proven, fast and effective agent for long term change, and has been successfully deployed in several organisations including Northumbria Police.
I take a holistic approach to supporting clients, addressing the cause of their problems, not just the symptoms. Unlike some other therapies, I don’t focus on a client’s issues beyond gaining an initial understanding. I also don’t perform any regression work or focus on past trauma. Sessions are conducted in a solution-focused manner, helping clients move forward with their lives. I use a combination of NLP, CBT, neuroscience, and hypnotherapy to facilitate rapid change in our clients. The goal of solution-focused hypnotherapy is to enable rapid, sustainable change.
Is Hypnotherapy safe? Will I lose control?
I use an element of trance in sessions to accelerate the therapeutic process, with solution-focused hypnotherapy being a core element of sessions. Trance is a very familiar state. All of us go into trance many times every day, for example, when we’re focusing on something we love doing, driving a regular route, or jogging. Trance is when the conscious and subconscious minds come together in focus, allowing you to access the vast resource library in your subconscious and helping you to get the very best out of yourself. It’s a myth that anyone can make you do something against your will in trance. You’re always in control, and your mind will “wake” you if it doesn’t feel safe or if there’s something you need to address. Typically, clients find this part of the process very relaxing and enjoyable.
Do you provide online sessions, and if so, are they as effective as in-person sessions?
Yes and yes!
Since Covid, many people have developed a preference for online interactions. The bulk of my sessions are now conducted over Zoom, giving clients the opportunity to relax within the comfort of their own homes.
The only request is that you ensure you have access to decent WiFi and are in a place where you can comfortably relax with minimal distractions.
Are there any conditions you can’t treat?
I specialise in working with clients who have mild to moderate anxiety or depression and related disorders. As a solution-focused hypnotherapist, I also work with individuals with high levels of anxiety or depression; however, clients need to be aware that this can be a longer process, and they may need to do this in conjunction with taking medication as diagnosed by their medical professional.
Suffering from a psychotic episode can mean that hypnosis is contraindicated, therefore hypnotherapy should not be received in that scenario. Those with a history of psychosis but who aren’t currently suffering from a psychotic episode can benefit from hypnotherapy to help address anxiety-related disorders.
Some physical ailments can be psychosomatic, but it’s important that they are properly assessed by a medical professional.
How many sessions does it take to overcome anxiety?
Everyone is different and I take a client led approach. You know how you feel and how many sessions you need to get to where you want to.
From experience, roughly 10-12 sessions is probably a good rule of thumb, however some people have significantly less, some a few more.