How hypnotherapy can help you manage stress

Modern life can be full of stresses, but 2020 has dealt a challenge in Covid 19 that is unprecedented in our lifetimes. For many of us this has created huge problems as we worry not just about our own health and that of our loved ones, but the implications for our jobs, finances, leisure time and holidays.

Aside from Covid there are a million and one different stresses that impact on our daily lives. Some of these are big such as bereavements, relationship breakdowns or redundancy. Others are small such as trying to rearrange the car insurance or having cross words with a family member. However they all pile up and can make our lives feel difficult and pressured.

Good stress

It is important to note that not all stress is bad. We need a certain amount of stress in our lives to help us thrive and push ourselves. This has been well documented in various books. In ‘Your Brain at Work’ David Rock describes how more stress can result in better performance. Being bored at work or school can lead to greater levels of stress whereas when we feel challenged in a positive way we can get better results. The trick is to recognise these different types of stress, and respond appropriately. For instance having to present a talk at work can be seen as a good form of stress as we are challenged and can learn from the experience. We also need to learn to manage our levels of negative stress effectively.

A stress bucket

A useful analogy was developed by Professor Brabbington and Doctor Turkington in their work in 2002. They describe a bucket which holds all the different types of stress a person may be facing. The more stress a person faces, the more their bucket fills…. and when it overflows mental and physical health problems can result. They further developed this metaphor to explain that people have different sized buckets according to how well they can adapt and deal with stress in their lives. But no matter how big or small your bucket may be, the good news is that there are ways to reduce the stress in your life, and thus lower the levels in your bucket.

Reducing stress

A key way to reduce your stress is to make sure you are getting some exercise as this will increase the endorphins in your body and lift your mood. This doesn’t have to be high intensity exercise; a simple walk in the fresh air will also give you the same effect.

A second important stress reducer is to spend time with people you enjoy being with. This doesn’t have to be face to face. It could be a phone call, or even a video chat. Connecting with others helps us feel part of something whether we are working, spending time with friends or helping out a neighbour.

Building in time for activities we enjoy is a key part of self care, but is often one of the things that clients who are suffering from the effects of stress have let slip. Make a list of things that absorb you, or that you liked in the past, and commit to building them into your routine.

Positive thinking is an important tool in dealing with stress, but it is hard to do when we are feeling overloaded. Many studies have emphasised the importance of gratitude as a step to optimising mental (and physical) health. If you get into a routine of writing down what you are grateful for in your life it will train your brain to look for positives and become more of a habit.

How hypnotherapy can help you with stress

When I work with a client for stress related problems we look at how they would like their ideal future to be. This powerful technique can reveal new insights and small steps a client can take to improve their overall situation which we can then develop.

Hypnosis offers a lovely and relaxing way to reduce a client’s stress. Just the simple act of settling down, with no distractions, to listen to a relaxation track at home, a group visualisation, or an individual hypnotherapy session will help reduce your blood pressure and regulate your breathing. Visualisation gives your brain a powerful and positive message that your body can relax, while your brain gets a chance to catch up on processing time. I like to compare the brain to a computer, and like a computer, our brains work better when fewer tabs are open. Hypnosis gives you the opportunity to shut some of those tabs down. The positive effects of an enjoyable hypnotherapy session can stay with you after you leave the therapy room.

Hypnotherapy can also help you reset your mindset with beneficial messages which will lead to positive thinking becoming easier for you in your normal life. During hypnosis your brain is much more receptive to new ideas that may be presented to you.

I also work with you to explain how your brain works. This greater understanding has meant that many clients feel less critical of themselves as they recognise patterns in their behaviour are just a natural reaction to life. This realisation helps to take some of the pressure off yourself and in turn helps you reframe situations.

Sleep quality is also improved with the use of hypnotherapy. Sleep is a very powerful way of reducing your stress; it gives your brain a chance to catch up on processing time and your body a chance to rest so that hormones are more in balance.

Hypnotherapy is a powerful tool for dealing with stress in a pleasant and positive way. As one client commented ‘the weekly sessions combined with listening to the download have been extremely helpful. They have calmed my mind, helped me relax and have helped me develop and maintain a more positive frame of mind.’ And that in a nutshell is what having hypnotherapy for stress related problems is all about; calming your mind, helping you relax and developing more resilience and positivity so that you are better able to deal with stress in the future.

Further reading:

‘Your Brain at Work - Strategies for Overcoming Distraction, Regaining Focus, and Working Smarter All Day Long’ by David Rock.

I highly recommend Dr Rangan Chatterjee’s books. Dr Chatterjee is a GP whose books (including ‘The Stress Solution,’ and ‘The 4 Pillar Plan’) along with his excellent podcast ‘Feel Better Live More’ offer simple, practical advice to live a healthier life, both mentally and physically.