HEALING PHOBIAS AND ANXIETY WITH HYPNOTHERAPY
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Alchemical Hypnotherapy offers unique tools for healing anxiety and phobias. By returning in hypnosis to the core memories which created a phobic response and changing those memories, we can cure these phobias in a fraction of the time required by most other therapies.
Mani Feniger, author, teacher and Clinical Hypnotherapist shares her own story and that of a client in the following article. |
Millions of Americans suffer from anxiety disorders including, phobias, panic attacks, and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Alchemical Hypnotherapy has given me unique keys to work effectively with all these issues. In my book, "Journey From Anxiety to Freedom", I show how anyone can use a variety of tools, especially Alchemy, to eliminate phobic reactions and self-sabotaging beliefs and behaviors.
For over a decade, I have used the tools of Alchemical Hypnotherapy to work with clients suffering from anxiety-related issues, as well as in my own personal life (as I have struggled with panic attacks and phobias). Here are two examples. The first is an experience with a client suffering from agoraphobia (anxiety in situations where the sufferer perceives certain environments as dangerous or uncomfortable); the second is an excerpt from my book, Journey from Anxiety to Freedom, showing how I used the Alchemical process to contact my inner child to lessen my phobia about driving on freeways and bridges.
For over a decade, I have used the tools of Alchemical Hypnotherapy to work with clients suffering from anxiety-related issues, as well as in my own personal life (as I have struggled with panic attacks and phobias). Here are two examples. The first is an experience with a client suffering from agoraphobia (anxiety in situations where the sufferer perceives certain environments as dangerous or uncomfortable); the second is an excerpt from my book, Journey from Anxiety to Freedom, showing how I used the Alchemical process to contact my inner child to lessen my phobia about driving on freeways and bridges.
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Barbara - Dread Of Going OutBarbara first came to me because she had great difficulty leaving her home, even to run simple errands such as shopping or going to the library. She noticed that if she could actually get out the door and on her way, she usually calmed down. But the dread of leaving the safety of her home was so great, that she usually could not make it.
Her therapy began by using guided imagery to develop a relaxation response and to have her imagine a special place that made her feel calm. It is important to show a client that they can have some control over the output of adrenaline. Then I asked her to tell me more about her thoughts related to going out. It soon became clear that her self-talk included many themes of feeling unwelcome, unwanted, and fear that she would be seen as faulty. Since these expectations were being projected onto the outside world, we proceeded with a regression process to go back to when she first experienced these fears. |
At one point she got in touch with a birth memory of feeling completely unwelcome, and believing she should never leave the womb. She then recalled having heard her mother tell the story that she was birthing too quickly and no one was prepared. The story was that her mother tried to hold her in, and even at the hospital the nurse held her legs together to postpone the imminent birth.
As Barbara told the story, she became very emotional. She felt the primal feelings of rejection once again, but this time she knew it wasn’t the fault of the little baby. She then imagined reaching out and welcoming this new being into the world, and promising her love and safety.
Barbara was then able to recognize that her feelings stemmed from the past and she could access the new experience of trust in herself and in life, whenever she thought of venturing out. Of course, she had to take small steps at first and anchor her new emotional experience in daily successful action. Over time, she was able to feel calmer and more in touch with the present reality which was inviting, not threatening.
As Barbara told the story, she became very emotional. She felt the primal feelings of rejection once again, but this time she knew it wasn’t the fault of the little baby. She then imagined reaching out and welcoming this new being into the world, and promising her love and safety.
Barbara was then able to recognize that her feelings stemmed from the past and she could access the new experience of trust in herself and in life, whenever she thought of venturing out. Of course, she had to take small steps at first and anchor her new emotional experience in daily successful action. Over time, she was able to feel calmer and more in touch with the present reality which was inviting, not threatening.
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Driving Phobia - Don't Give Her The Car Keys"The emotional pain that I could not identify or express did not go away when I ignored it: The unexpressed grief, the denied anger and the sadness were converted into worry, or expressed as a panicky voice that screamed, “I CAN’T - I WON’T - I’LL DIE!”
I needed to express those feelings without allowing them to take over my life. I needed to understand how suppressed feelings from the past were shaping my responses now. Using a process I learned in Alchemical Hypnotherapy, I found a format to explore emotions that might otherwise be threatening or hard to express. I used guided imagery to meet my inner child who knew how to act big but didn’t feel very confident inside. |
To begin my process, I prepared myself with a relaxation process. When relaxed, I pictured a beautiful garden with two comfortable chairs, one big and one small, and I invited my child self to join me there. When I let my mind float, a five-year-old girl appeared, her finger wrapped around her long brown braids. She looked quizzically at me. I asked her if there was anything that she would like to tell me. At first she didn’t say anything and I accepted her silence. As I continued to relax, she finally spoke to me. She told me she was scared. She told me she felt alone. She was tired of trying so hard, of being so serious and she didn’t want to be in charge. As an adult I responded and let her know that I cared about her and that I wanted to get to know her.
The next time I needed to drive to San Francisco, I heard the scared voice saying: ‘I don’t want to do this. Don’t make me do this.’ Whereas in the past this voice would have been enough to make me turn around and go home, this time I heard my cry for help in a new way. Instead of identifying with the voice, I imagined that it belonged to the child sitting next to me in the car. I pictured her as a very relaxed Raggedy Ann doll leaning against my hip. I said to her: ‘I know that you’re too little to drive this car. Your feet don’t even reach the pedals and you can’t see over the dashboard. I want you to know that you don’t have to take charge….I’m grown up and well coordinated. I have been driving for twenty years. You can rest in my heart and I will drive the car.’
This dialogue pulled me back to the reality of driving. I focused my attention on the road. I felt the breeze on my arm….I used my skills to stop the fearful thoughts and relax the body, and no longer felt like I was fighting an enemy. I understood that so much of my fear was a remnant from the past; I could love the scared child within me, but I didn’t have to give her the keys to the car.
The next time I needed to drive to San Francisco, I heard the scared voice saying: ‘I don’t want to do this. Don’t make me do this.’ Whereas in the past this voice would have been enough to make me turn around and go home, this time I heard my cry for help in a new way. Instead of identifying with the voice, I imagined that it belonged to the child sitting next to me in the car. I pictured her as a very relaxed Raggedy Ann doll leaning against my hip. I said to her: ‘I know that you’re too little to drive this car. Your feet don’t even reach the pedals and you can’t see over the dashboard. I want you to know that you don’t have to take charge….I’m grown up and well coordinated. I have been driving for twenty years. You can rest in my heart and I will drive the car.’
This dialogue pulled me back to the reality of driving. I focused my attention on the road. I felt the breeze on my arm….I used my skills to stop the fearful thoughts and relax the body, and no longer felt like I was fighting an enemy. I understood that so much of my fear was a remnant from the past; I could love the scared child within me, but I didn’t have to give her the keys to the car.
