5 Ways Hypnosis Helps Overcome Anxiety According to Mahesh Grossman of Berkeley Hypnosis & Pain Management
BERKELEY, Calif. (PRWEB) December 28, 2017 -- Though most people call a doctor or a psychotherapist when they need anxiety relief, there’s another option that can be faster, more cost-effective, and a non-addictive alternative to medication or months of therapy: hypnosis.
Not only is hypnosis fun and relaxing, studies show it also has a proven track record of effectiveness for anxiety, phobias
and [post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Mahesh Grossman, owner of Berkeley Hypnosis & Pain Management, says hypnosis is known for being relaxing. “You’ve seen the movies where the hypnotist swings a watch and declares, ‘You are getting very sleepy.’ Though nobody actually uses a watch these days, hypnosis really does create an extremely peaceful state. According to some clients, it can be even more relaxing than a massage.”
Here are five ways hypnosis can help achieve long-term anxiety relief, according to Grossman:
1. Hypnosis can help retrain the brain to stop stress, panic and worry in what are usually triggering situations.
Triggering experiences (e.g. riding an airplane, taking a test) are rehearsed in the imagination under hypnosis. During this “rehearsal,” clients bring up a small amount of the physical and emotional sensations that normally arise for them during this type of situation. Then, while still under hypnosis, calming techniques are used to allow the client to be comfortable while performing the imaginary task. When the same situation provokes anxiety in real life, the client uses the coping skills that were practiced in hypnosis to complete the task. “Once the brain sees that the you’ve made it through a situation like taking a test or riding an airplane safely, without dying,” says Grossman, “it stops sending anxiety symptoms for that experience when it occurs again.”
2. Hypnosis lowers activity in the part of the brain responsible for worrying, called the the dorsal anterior cingulate.
Brain scans show that hypnosis actually simmers down the part of the brain that worries. During hypnosis sessions, clients are taught how to do this for themselves. As reported in Time Magazine, researchers at Stanford University saw that brain activity decreased in the part of the brain responsible for worrying, (the dorsal anterior cingulate), when people were hypnotized. “This aspect of hypnosis makes it particularly useful for people with generalized anxiety disorder and anyone else who worries a lot,” says Grossman. “It is easy to learn self-hypnosis and take advantage of this benefit by yourself at home.”
3. Hypnosis can create a personal “relaxation button” to use to instantly relax and turn off worry when anxiety is triggered.
The first part of any hypnosis session is to use hypnotic techniques to make the client extremely relaxed. Towards the end of a session, when clients are at their most relaxed and worry free, they are given post-hypnotic suggestions to link this deep relaxation to a simple word, image or gesture. “As soon as stress or anxiety shows up,” says Grossman, “Clients can use this ‘relaxation button’ to lower their anxiety and recreate the tranquility they felt when they were hypnotized.”
4.nHypnosis is a fast way to find and heal the original cause of anxiety.
For most people, anxiety is the brain’s way of protecting them from re-hurting something that caused them pain in the past. Because hypnosis helps directly connect to the subconscious, it’s often easier to discover what that original injury is faster than using something like psychotherapy. Then, while still working in the subconscious, hypnotic techniques can be used to heal the original wound which allows the anxiety it has been causing goes away.
5. Hypnosis helps release stuck emotions from past events that may be causing anxiety.
Often, there are unconscious emotions that weren’t fully experienced at the time of an event that are “stuck” as sensations in the body. These sensations need to be briefly noticed and then released in order to become free from anxiety symptoms. A lot of times, anxiety shows up as a form of protection from being aware of these stuck emotions. Once released, they will no longer cause anxiety symptoms. “The good news is that you don’t actually need to experience these difficult emotions directly,” says Grossman. “There’s no crying, yelling or becoming afraid. Through hypnosis, these unprocessed feelings are let go of symbolically, using pictures or physical sensations in the imagination.”
Mahesh Grossman is a clinically certified hypnotherapist and owner of Berkeley Hypnosis & Pain Management. Mahesh specializes in stop smoking hypnosis, as well as hypnosis for weight loss, pain management, medical issues, anxiety and depression. His personal mission is to help people make the changes they want to experience by breaking through the unconscious material that causes inner difficulties to the unconditional love and joy that lies hidden just below the surface of everyday life. He offers in person sessions in northern California as well as phone and Skype sessions throughout the world. For a quiz to see how hypnotizable you are, click here.
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For more information about Berkeley Hypnosis & Pain Management or this and other story angles, please call or text Mahesh Grossman at (510) 813-8004 or email [email protected]
Mahesh Grossman, Berkeley Hypnosis & Pain Management, http://BerkeleyHypnosis.com, +1 (510)813-8004, [email protected]
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