Transcript Teaching Self Hypnosis

Hypnosis Application for Anxiety
Shelly Johnson Gottsegen, MSW,
LICSW
Hypnovations, April 11, 2010
What is Anxiety?
A natural response to perceived threats
of danger.
 Anxiety arrives from a complex
interaction of genetic, biological,
behavioral and social environmental risk
factors.
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DSM IV:
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: a future oriented state, with
"apprehensive anticipation of future
danger or misfortune accompanied by a
feeling of dysphoria or somatic
symptoms of tension".
Different Types of Anxiety
Disorders:
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Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD);
excessive, unrealistic worry that lasts 6
months or more.
 Specific Phobias: Intense fear reaction to a
specific object or situation.
 Social Phobia/Social Anxiety (SAD):
characterized by extreme anxiety about being
judged by others or behaving in a way that
might cause embarrassment or ridicule.
Anxiety

Anxiety involves a biological response
to a perceived threat – a physical flow
involving hormones adrenalin and
insulin, causing a variety of physical
symptoms such as the heart to race,
perspiration, stomach pains,
headaches, muscle tension etc.
Perception
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Anxiety involves perception; “Eye of
the Beholder” - anything that one
perceives as dangerous can be a trigger
for anxiety symptoms.
“Eye of the Beholder”

Not everyone reacts
to the same
experience in the
same way.
Perception Influences Feelings
Anxious people imagine danger. They
are focused on what could go wrong
in the future.
 Hypnosis is a superior treatment for
hypnosis because it involves the use
of the imagination to cope with
anxiety.

Why Hypnosis?

Hypnosis goes beyond logic and addresses
the deeper self, the unconscious, where
perceptions are created.
 Hypnosis offers a way for anxious people to
develop an awareness of the here and now,
and a way for them to become aware of their
innate abilities to handle life.
Accessing Anxiety:
R/O physical disorders, side effects of
medicines and allergies.
 Identify dysfunctional behaviors and
anxiety symptoms including negative
thought patterns, physical sensations
and disturbed sleep patterns.

Anxiety symptoms

Agitation, excessive worries, intense
fears, panic, sense of dread, rumination,
perfectionism, resistance to change or
the unfamiliar, social phobia, fear of
rejection, panic attacks, somatic
symptoms, negative thought patterns.
Treatment Goals
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(Adapt and individualize goals depending on
each client’s needs.)
Develop skills to interrupt negative, irrational,
obsessive thoughts
Increase ability to produce calming responses
Diminish worries
Regulate emotional reactions
Eliminate fear of future anxiety attacks
Increase competency to face life stress
Treatment Goals
Decrease symptoms of insomnia,
irritability, restlessness and somatic
anxiety symptoms (racing heart, tummy
aches, sweaty palms, headaches etc).
 Increase hopefulness about recovery.

Treatment:

Develop Rapport.
 Educate patients about their anxiety.
 Psycho education conveys to the client the
three major components of anxiety: genetics,
temperament and environmental stressors.
 Validate their feelings and give them a sense
of hope and confidence in their ability to heal.
Use of Hypnosis/teach selfhypnosis:

Induction and deepening techniques:
Use breathing methods as a means to
elicit relaxation and a sense of self
soothing. Use a focus on releasing
physical sensations and tension while
increasing a sense of comfort to teach
calming the body and the mind.
Teach Hypnosis

Self soothing Imagery – a safe place:
Visual imagery to distract from worries,
self sooth, and a context to create a
sense of safety, This is also a venue for
various techniques like the dialing down
reactivity tool or floating in a bubble
etc…
Use of Hypnosis
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Scripts focus on competency in handling life
stresses
age progression
linking past successes to future ability to
manage anxious feeling
ego – strengthening suggestions
post hypnotic suggestion for real life
situations
Teach anxious people to rethink, reframe, and
to redefine.
Help them answer “what if “ questions with a
sensible well planned answer that allows
them to feel prepared and confident that they
can handle life stress.
Specific Hypnotic
Techniques
Concentrate on the Breath.
 Visualization: of favorite (safe) place
 Dissociation: view the situation without
discomfort, mental rehearsing
 Positive or negative visualization: to
increase comfort, decrease the
recognition of uncomfortable stimuli.
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Specific Hypnotic Techniques
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Time Distortion (increase time spent in
comfort and the reverse)
Pseudo-orientation in time: Experience
success in the future.
Age Regression: Experience a time you
were not anxious, learning skills
Hypermnesia: e.g. Test anxiety
Amnesias: "Remember to forget" old fears.