Hypnotherapy for Stress- A Success Story

By Susanna Sweeney, MSC, MBACP, CHT

In this article, meet Jeffrey who attended me for hypnotherapy for stress and find out what brought him to attend a hypnotherapy relaxation clinic and how it helped him.

Jeffrey is a middle manager at a large multinational. He manages customer services which involves great responsibilities such as leading a large team, some of whom are based abroad with a substantial time difference that requires Jeffrey making himself available some early mornings for video calls. 

What is supposed to be a forty hour work week, for Jeffrey ends up being fifty, sometimes sixty hours. In the evenings, Jeffrey is supposed to keep in touch with urgent emails. 

When I first met Jeffrey he had been in this role for a couple of years and was now starting to feel the impact:

• He found he was less available for his young family than he used to be.
• He found it hard to wind down in the evenings.
• He found he was exercising less.
• Some nights, Jeffrey wouldn't sleep well, and find himself trying to solve work problems while lying awake.
• He had also started to gain weight, mostly because fast food had started to creep into his diet.

Jeffrey was not happy. Right now, his life was dominated by feelings of stress. He came for hypnotherapy for stress to find a way to cope with the immense pressure he was under.

Jeffrey Progress with Hypnotherapy for Stress 

My first concern was to help Jeffrey to get to a place of relaxation. At the first meeting, he was jumpy and couldn't sit still. It was clear that his body was on constant alert. This is typical of a chronic stress state.

I used a number of powerful relaxation hypnosis routines. It took Jeffrey a long time to let go of the tension he was holding and to reach a place of physical relaxation. 

It wasn't until the end of the first session that he reported his heart beat and breathing slowing down. Once he got there, he found the experience very pleasant though.

I gave Jeffrey a hypnosis relaxation audio for home use and asked him to use this daily before going to sleep. I wanted his physiology to get used to winding down at least once a day. If you are exposed to chronic stress daily as Jeffrey was, you actually have to re train your mind and body to be able to relax.

The following month, Jeffrey came back a changed man. Where he was tense all through the first meeting, his face looked much more relaxed now. Even his skin tone looked healthier, much less flushed than before. I could tell he was more present. 

Jeffrey reported having relaxed at home most nights, just before going to sleep. The nights he did, he slept better. 

The next piece of work using hypnotherapy for stress was going to be to change lifestyle habits that promoted a chronic stress state. We had a long talk about this. While he wanted to change his life, there was also a reluctance there to let go of some habits that he perceived as a clutch. 

Changing Lifestyle Habits With Hypnotherapy for Stress

Jeffrey's life style had suffered under the pressures of work, and this in turn was making his experience of stress worse.

For example:

• Jeffrey was using coffee to keep up a fast pace at work during the day. He had come down to four cups a day, but this was still a lot.
• Along with the coffee, Jeffrey would often have a sweet snack of some kind, usually a bar. He liked the boost he got from sugar. The sugar boost however is always temporary, causing your blood sugar to spike and then to crash about an hour later, making Jeffrey want more sugar at that point. He had put on a fair amount of weight.
• Jeffrey had a habit of using not only one but typically two screens simultaneously in the evenings, his smart phone and TV- right up until bed time. He then found it hard to go to sleep. In my article on self help for insomnia I talk about the importance of a healthy sleep routine, and screens with the blue light they emit are not part of that.
• Hypnotherapy for stress meant getting rid of the coffee and sugar habit, introducing a healthy sleep routine nightly which excluded screens. We worked on these issues using suggestion hypnosis which was personalized to Jeffrey's requirements. He made good progress with changing his habits resulting in improved sleep and better energy all round.

Underlying Emotional Issues and Stress

Jeffrey found it hard to say no at work, going along with requests as they came in even though this would put more pressure on his own already packed schedule.

We discussed what stopped him from saying no to colleagues. Jeffrey responded that he wanted to come across as likable and helpful. When we explored what that meant to him, it emerged that deep down he was judging himself. He never felt quite good enough at work and that was, to a large part, the reason why he pushed himself so hard. I suggested hypnosis for self esteem to help him overcome this obstacle.

Hypnosis for self esteem was done using regression hypnosis. Here, Jeffrey contacted a couple of experiences he had had as a young child which resulted in him feeling that he was not lovable and not worthy.

When experiencing these painful memories in a trance state, Jeffrey was able to feel some of the emotions associated, to make sense of them and to rebuild the connection with his innermost self, committing to self love and self care. This work was done over three sessions spread over three months. 

A lot changed during this time in Jeffrey's life:

• He started to be better able to draw boundaries at work 
• He was now focusing his energy on his own job
• He implemented screen free time in the evenings which involved him not checking work emails
• He started feeling more confident about his work
• He now felt an inner sense of calm and contentment more often
• He made more time for his kids in the evenings and at weekends

Towards the end of our time together, Jeffrey started to look for another job and had already attended an interview. He finally decided to find a job that was more suited to family life.

What Hypnotherapy for Stress can and cannot do for You

Finding a new job was not going to be an easy task. It was not what Jeffrey had imagined he would do four month down the line when he first attended me for hypnosis for stress reduction. His expectation had been that hypnotherapy would somehow, magically take the stress away. 

In reality, hypnotherapy for stress helped Jeffrey build resilience by changing habits that promoted chronic stress into healthful habits that supported better sleep, improved mood, sharper focus and improved concentration. But naturally, hypnotherapy cannot change real life circumstances that promote stress, such as a stressful work environment.

However, unexpectedly for Jeffrey, hypnotherapy helped him improve his self esteem. As a result he developed the confidence to view his job in a different light. He now recognized that there was a lack of fulfilment and no real work life balance in the current set up, and this insight led him to look for something more family friendly and rewarding.

More on Stress, Relaxation and Hypnosis

Hypnosis for Stress- Get Your Equilibrium Back

Self Hypnosis for Stress- 5 Major Gains for You

What is Deep Relaxation Hypnosis and What are the Benefits for you?

How Relaxation Self Hypnosis Can Benefit You in 6 Ways

How Relaxation Hypnosis Can Help You Change Your Life

Self Hypnosis Relaxation Techniques for you

New to Hypnosis?

These articles are designed to help:

• What is Hypnosis?
• Does Hypnotherapy Work?
• How Does Hypnotherapy Work?
• How Hypnosis can Help You
• Discover the Power of Hypnosis
• About Subconscious Mind Programming
• Dismantle Hypnosis Myths

How Does Hypnotherapy Work?

• Suggestion Hypnosis
• Regression Hypnosis
• Life Regression Hypnosis
• Past Life Hypnosis

Curious About Self Hypnosis?

• Does self hypnosis work? My answer might surprise you.
• Find out the basics about self help hypnosis.
• Self help hypnosis challenges you should be aware of.
• What are auto suggestions?
• Learn about auto suggestion techniques.
• Learn self hypnosis techniques.
• Learn self hypnosis relaxation techniques.
• Find out how to recognize hypnosis and self hypnosis trance.
• Learn how to use self hypnosis for goal setting.

How Self Hypnosis Can Help You Change Your Life

• If you want to stop smoking, check out self hypnosis for smoking
• If you want to lose weight, check out self hypnosis for weight loss
• To rid yourself of anxiety, check out self hypnosis for anxiety.
• To get rid of the symptoms of depression, check out self hypnosis for depression.
• Improve self esteem with self hypnosis for self esteem.
• Self Hypnosis for Insomnia- 7 Tremendous Benefits for You

I hope this brief article on hypnotherapy for stress has helped you to understand what you can expect from the treatment. I do hope you will give hypnotherapy a go!

In the comments underneath, let our community know what insights you have gained about hypnotherapy and stress relief.

Here is to your health and well being.

Regards,

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Please note that any content or advice provided here is not intended as a substitute for medical advice.
Always consult your doctor before starting any health regimen.
Outcomes of hypnotherapy vary between individuals and cannot be guaranteed.

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