We can help you to make real and lasting changes in how you think about and how you respond to stressful and anxiety provoking events

• What is stress?
• What is anxiety?
• What are the effects of stress and anxiety?
• How can Cognitive Behavioural Hypnotherapy help?

What is stress?

Stress can be described as stimulus characteristic of the environment. For example, if you were to lose your job the stress would be in the job loss itself rather than inside you.

A certain amount of stress can be beneficial as it keeps us alert and helps us to explore and adapt to our environment. You wouldn't want to be so relaxed that you fail to pay attention when crossing the road. Actors require a certain amount of stress to get out on stage and give a good performance,if they had no concerns it would certainly negatively impact their performance.

However, when people are unable to tolerate the level of stress it can quickly become detrimental and lead to a number of adverse effects. Stress as a response to a change in the individuals environment (e.g. going through a particularly busy time at work) depends on the individuals perception of the issue (stressor) which is why people have different reactions to the same stressors.

There are a number of theories as to what causes stress. Anything that prevents us from achieving our goals are a potential form of stress, for example, delays in public transport preventing us from getting to work on time. Physical changes via disruptions to circadian rhythms; for example, when work shifts change from day to night, have also found to be a potential stressor. Life changes have also been found to be potentially stressful, especially if they are unexpected and uncontrollable i.e. we have no power to prevent them as in the death of a close family member or friend.
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What is anxiety?

Anxiety is the tense anticipation of a threatening but vague future event, it shares many characteristics of fear but is distinguished by the fact that fear is related to a specific perceived danger.

The onset of anxiety can be uncertain and individuals suffering from anxiety disorders are often puzzled by the feelings and bodily sensations (pounding heart, chest paint, and faintness are commonly reported symptoms). Feelings of anxiousness tend to be prolonged and the threat is rarely imminent, there is a pervasive uneasiness and the individual has a heightened sense of vigilance.

Feelings of anxiety can lead to avoidance behaviour that can result in a reduction of the anxiety. However, this can then increase the avoidance behaviour (characteristic of people who suffer from phobias).

Vulnerability to anxiety is now widely regarded as being largely cognitive in nature - that is individuals are primed to detect threat cues based on their past experiences and personal belief systems. It is thought that self focused attention (preoccupation with oneself and ones sensations) contributes to many anxiety disorders.

The individuals sense of increased anticipation for a threatening event may lead them enhance or distort their perception of threatening cues. Ultimately it is the interpretation that the individual makes as to whether something will harm them or not that causes the anxiety.
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What are the effects of stress and anxiety?

Stress and anxiety both cause physiological changes within the body. The perceived stressor or threat leads to the release of adrenaline and noradrenalin which triggers the flight or fight response.

Excessive anxiety is a central feature of many psychological disorders including

Panic disorder (with or with out agoraphobia)
Agoraphobia with out a history of panics
Social phobia
Specific phobia
Generalised anxiety disorder
Obsessive compulsive disorder
Post traumatic stress disorder

Stress can contribute to many of the following symptoms:

Insomnia
IBS
Psychogenic infertility
High blood pressure
Hypertension
Heat disease
Asthma
Peptic ulcers
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How can Cognitive Behavioural Hypnotherapy help?

Cognitive Behavioural Hypnotherapy (CBH) uses Cognitive Behavioral Therapy techniques both when the client is in and out of the trance state (see Hypnosis and Hypnotherapy explained )

This involves challenging the clients false or irrational beliefs about themselves and the world around them, For example, "I'm useless". It also looks at developing the clients coping strategies so that they can move away from the thought that "everything is absolutely awful and I cant handle this" to more appropriate and fitting responses. For example, "I accept that the situation is not to my liking but I can choose to work to improve it".

Fundamentally the approach aims to move the client towards gaining acceptance of the issue and then helps them to learn how to respond in a rationally and psychologically healthy way, so not only reducing stress and anxiety but also helping to reduce depressive symptoms.

CBH helps the client to learn how to alter their patterns of thinking and as learning takes place more rapidly when the client is in the relaxed hypnotic state this approach is thought to be more effective and a faster process than that of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy with out hypnosis.

The British Medical Journal states on their website that: "There is good evidence from randomised controlled trials that both hypnosis and relaxation techniques can reduce anxiety, particularly that related to stressful situations... They are also effective for panic disorders and insomnia, particularly when integrated into a package of cognitive therapy... a systematic review has found that hypnosis enhances the effects of cognitive behavioural therapy for conditions such as phobia, obesity, and anxiety".
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