In these cave man days, when we were hunted and ‘hunters’ the fight or flight response served to prepare the body to either ‘fight e. G. The tiger’ or run from it ! Our nerve impulses send alerts of potential danger to the brain which in turn sends a message to the adrenal glands to release adrenaline, epinephrine and steroids stress hormones into the blood stream. These hormones make the body faster, stronger and lighter.

The body evacuates the bladder and colon to make it lighter and faster. Water is soaked up by the body making the mouth dry.The skin turns pale as blood is diverted to internal and ‘priority’ organs in order to carry resources such as oxygen and glucose to vital organs and muscles. Digestion slows down and the body starts to sweat in order to cool itself down, our senses also become heightened. In this state, the body is prepared for battle or escape.

Whichever occurs, ‘fight or flight’, it uses up all the produced adrenaline and the hormones and then the body returns to normal. However in modern day life we are experiencing much higher levels of stress and anxiety that simply were not there hundreds of years ago.Our physical make up has not had time to evolve with these social stresses to function correctly under such conditions, yet the fight or flight response still reacts as it would to a life or death scenario even though our ‘today stress’ is rely say a traffic jam and not a life threatening situation such as a hungry tiger! The problem here is that the body does not use up the hormones produced by the fight or flight response and these high levels of hormones remain in our system.The subconscious has no way to distinguish the difference between actual life threatening events and the rigors of modern living. Something is either scary or it is not ! The subconscious does not do ‘a little bit scary! Where some people can cope with these modern day tigers others cannot.

People suffering with stress and anxiety in today’s’ world can mind themselves living in a constant state of flight or fight, where the subconscious rewires itself to what it believes to be normal to match our behavior.For those who suffer, the symptoms can be highly unpleasant, debilitating, leading to decreased quality of life and possible future illness. Today this is called Stress and anxiety and can vary in its’ severities.

By definition anxiety and stress are categorized by separate feelings. Feelings of stress tend to come from a situation where we feel frustrated or angry. The stress we experience in our day to day life is associated with nervousness and armorial external situations. Feelings of anxiety come from apprehension or fear, unease and worry.The source of anxiety is not always recognizable. So, the difference between stress and anxiety is that with stress we know what is worrying us but with anxiety we do not, or we are much less aware. With anxiety, worrying about the reaction tends to become the problem. We become anxious about the anxiety.

However, although stress and anxiety are different experiences they can be connected. Both induce negative thought patterns and inappropriate responses to normal stimuli. In many ways anxiety can be considered long term stress and long term stress may be a component of anxiety.The reason for their connection is that they both involve the overload of the hormones cortical and adrenaline which the body will find hard to regulate. Stress and anxiety can contribute to each other. An example of this is OPTS where the stress is so strong that the persons’ anxiety levels change from that moment onwards.

Considering the above, hypnotherapy is an extremely effective treatment for both stress and anxiety as it focuses on rewiring the subconscious mind and eliminating negative tatters rather than certain medications and therapies which simply mask the problem.When reviewing the different hypnotherapies treatments for stress and anxiety and phobias it is important to remember that half the battle is belief! Trust and belief can be gained in the initial consultation by generating a good rapport, using waking hypnosis to sow the seed of success and recovery and by providing the client with the above history of stress and anxiety and why they are suffering. The therapist should explain to the client how hypnotherapy can help them become stress, anxiety or phobia free reeve.Hypnotherapy aims to rewire the faulty programs buried deep inside the subconscious mind and has a very high success rate in this area. So, we need to convince the subconscious mind. Like reprogramming a computer we need to override the subconscious, anxious programming with new non anxious programmer. We need to bypass the CUFF! In order to treat stress, anxiety and phobias successfully using hypnotherapy it is paramount that the therapist identify the SIS (Initial Sentencing Event).

The therapist can help the client discover the SIS using a time line or regression therapy.In most cases he client will be aware of the SIS. It is important that we discover this as if we don’t the client may substitute the phobia, fear or stress with another and this is not effective treatment. A diary of triggers can be suggested and helpful in SIS identification. Once the SIS has been established the hypnotherapies can start to put together Mars and hypnotic screeds tailored to suit the individual. Our aim is to retrain the subconscious mind and to change the obstructive, ritualistic habits and negative cycles.

The subconscious does not deal with negative language. Therefore all suggestions made must be positive. For example, in the case of a person who suffers with panic attacks the therapist should not say ‘ You will not have a panic attack today’ as all the subconscious will hear is ‘PANIC ATTACK!!! ‘ and this could potentially induce one. It is far more effective to say something like ‘You will really enjoy today’ or ‘You are, from this moment, calm, relaxed, happy and in complete control’.The tailored screeds devised by the therapist should focus on planting new positive thought patterns using what we take from the client (information usually gathered during the initial consultation) as stimuli. The importance of port and what can be obtained here is KEY to compiling a treatment plan to the best therapeutic value. Certain conditions, such as stress, where the client knows the cause of the stress can certainly be treated successfully with simple hypnotherapy and relaxation techniques alone.

However, others require a further depth to cure. Anchoring is an effective technique especially in anxiety treatment.Anchoring transports the positive information from the trance state to the waking state, sometimes techniques such as tapping of the neck or associative stimuli.

There are many techniques we can encourage the linen to practice alongside hypnotherapy. Learning how to breath correctly and effectively whilst repeating the word ‘peace’ on the in breath and ‘relax’ on the out breath is a form of self-hypnosis to some degree as the connotations which these words evoke, coupled with the deep breaths out which will help regulate the oxygen levels, can help the client relax.We can suggest this practice to the client.

It works because the focus is On the breathing but the words go through the back door so to speak, bypassing the CUFF . Therapists can use this themselves in screeds, provide CDC or teach the client the routine. With stress and anxiety there are often physical repercussions, effects to the kidneys, adrenal glands and more. An effective therapy is TU An Massage and again we can recommend this to work alongside the hypnotherapy which we as therapists provide.As well as the above, encouraging hobbies, distraction and aversion techniques are also beneficial and can serve as a form of self – hypnosis. ‘You have three healthy options for coping with stress: Express yourself immediately but appropriately Express yourself later at a more appropriate time and place.

Release and let go and forgive C. Roy Hunter Ms,CHAT – “The Art Of Hypnosis” ‘ When treating a client for stress anxiety or phobias it is paramount that the therapist be aware of the limitations of hypnotherapies treatment in certain cases.There are various types of stress disorders, some which can be ethically and effectively treated and some which must be professionally considered and/or referred.

Disorders such as Hypo stress, which derives from monotony and lack of motivation and Acute stress, a common tension, can be successfully and ethically treated with hypnotherapy alone. Episodic Acute stress, Chronic stress ad OPTS (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) are very errors forms of stress which carry risks of heart attacks and cancers among other illnesses.During the initial consultation it is vital that hypnotherapies check the clients’ medical Status and medications and kick to measure the severity off disorder.

Hypnotherapies must, at all times abide by the code of ethics and at no time put at risk the health and wellbeing of the client. We must establish whether the stress and anxiety is connected to a medical condition or if the client is taking medication and if necessary refer them or request a letter from their GAP. It needs also to be considered that some educations cause anxiety.Many side effects of anti – anxiety medication is in fact anxiety Chronic stress and Episodic Acute stress can be treated with hypnotherapy but only log side a GAP and other medical intervention.

OPTS (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) is a result of a massive form of stress. OPTS can only be treated with qualified people with in a multi – disciplinary team. As discussed, there are some conditions within stress and anxiety and phobias that can be treated by hypnotherapy alone, whilst others require working alongside other medical professionals.In some cases of generalized anxiety disorder GAD, a person may need the help of a psychotherapist to help them explore the past This is because if the client is unaware of the root of the problem then they may substitute the original symptoms for another and this is often destructive. As well as stress and anxiety it is important to consider the phobias. Many phobias derive from anxiety and many anxieties derive from phobias.

There are various different levels of severity and types when it comes to phobia. These can be described as Simple phobia, Complex phobia, Social phobia Agoraphobia and Claustrophobia.Simple,Complex and Social phobias can all be treated successfully with hypnotherapy alone.

Agoraphobia and claustrophobia may require the help of a counselor or psychotherapist. This can, again be assessed in the initial consultation using careful questioning,and observations. The purpose of hypnotherapy at all times is to deliver treatment to the best therapeutic value, to help the client in their recovery, to remember to abide by the code of ethics and to respect both the client and ourselves as therapists and to jeopardize neither the recovery of the client nor the reputation Of ourselves, the therapist.