Title: “Discuss the relationship between stress, anxiety, habits and phobias and describe how you would treat these issues with hypnotherapy”.
Module Five: Hypnotherapy and Counselling Skills
Date: 27th April 2013
2000 words
INTRODUCTION
This essay will briefly research evidence on the four conditions and demonstrate the impact that stress has on our everyday lives whilst showing how it is linked to the other conditions of anxiety, phobias and habits. It will then explore how hypnotherapy can be an effective treatment for anxiety, taking into account current ethical issues involved in treatment.
MAIN BODY
Title: “Discuss the relationship between stress, anxiety, habits
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Alternatively Hadley (1995) puts forward the view that contrary to popular belief, anxiety actually arises out of thoughts of potential danger and not the actual danger that produces the symptoms of anxiety. In support of this view the document by Chrysalis states that “feelings of anxiety come from apprehension or fear, the source of which is not always recognisable”. Feeling anxious at certain times in our life is a normal instinctual response that serves as a protection to aid survival. It teaches us to avoid dangerous situations and in this way is a learning process however the subconscious can sometimes work overtime resulting in response to all situations that feel remotely similar to the one that has made us feel anxious in the first instance (Chrysalis 2010 1-5 pp7). This document describes how anxiety will affect our whole being, our emotions, our behaviour and our physical health. Anxiety becomes a problem when its level rises above normal and interfere with a person’s life, associated physical symptoms include, trembling, tense muscles, churning stomach, nausea, diarrhoea, headache, heart palpitations, pins and needles, sweating or flushing (Chrysalis 2010 1-5 pp7). These feelings coupled with the physical symptoms experienced make a person want
Several types of anxiety disorders are discussed in this film. General anxiety disorder is described as a constant feeling of worry and fear for at least six months. A person suffering from general anxiety may experience panic attacks, cold sweats, heavy breathing, and may withdraw from social interactions. It is regularly treated with medications and cognitive behavior therapy, which is a psychotherapy that focuses on helping patients understand the feelings they are experiencing and how those feelings may be contributing to their issue. Post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, is another anxiety disorder discussed in this film. People develop PTSD after experiencing an emotional shock or major trauma. Someone with PTSD may have issues sleeping and controlling their anger; they may experience feelings of detachment, numbness, and may have flashbacks of the traumatic experience causing their PTSD. Like general anxiety disorder, PTSD patients are often treated with medication and cognitive behavior therapy. Recently a new therapy, eye movement desensitization and reprocessing therapy, has been used in PTSD patients. This therapy requires the patient to rapidly move their eyes while recalling the traumatic experience. The third type of anxiety disorder discussed in this film is obsessive compulsive disorder, or OCD. OCD is described
In this essay I will be discussing why an initial consultation in hypnotherapy is so important. I will be talking about the questions a hypnotherapist should ask their client and the ethical factors and contraindications the therapist should be looking out for. Whether a person is aiming to improve their self-esteem or reduce their anxiety the hypnotherapist will need to understand the client before proceeding with the therapy. I will show that an initial consultation is always a huge must before carrying out proceeding sessions on a client but there are also cons on regards to the factors that the therapist may face.
Sorry, no personal experience here. However it makes sense as relaxation is a key to overcome any fear. Hypnotherapy teaches you relaxation skills that you can self practice. Hypnosis allows us to bypass the conscious mind (the one which tries to decide what is safe and what is threat for us), and allows us direct access to the subconscious where change can begin to take place. Hypnosis can make you think more rational, and more in control of your response, and rather than uncontrollably panicking and worrying. As the real phobia is only in mind, you can overcome any phobia with hypnosis. However, if you are being treated by a medical practitioner already to overcome anxiety, you will be asked to contact your GP for their permission to treat.
The purpose of this essay is to describe and explain the uses of hypnotherapy in the treatment of a medical condition. For this essay I have chosen to look at a chronic life limiting illness called Motor Neurone Disease. This is a disease that can affect many different aspects of a person’s life and is very aggressive in its symptoms. I have met quite a few people with this condition whilst working in the Neurophysiology department at the QMC, where all the nerve and muscles studies and EMG’s are performed. It not only changes the person’s life but also the lives of the people around them. I found this research both upsetting and informative.
The authors describe the three anxiety responses, which are interrelated. These three include the physical or biological response (such as the primitive fight-or-flight response); the cognitive response to stressful stimuli with anxiety, and the behavioral aspects or reactions to the feeling of anxiety. Cognitive and behavioral responses to anxiety are fed by the biological responses to stressors, fear, or perceived threats. Behavioral responses include aggression, anger, or avoidance. The authors provide a chart delineating the different responses of anxiety, including physical symptoms such as sweating. The authors also distinguish between fear and anxiety, also defining the panic response.
Described by Michael Treanor, author of the article “Generalized Anxiety disorder”, anxiety is a disorder that is centrally characterized by excessive, pervasive, and chronic worry. Meaning that a lot of what goes on in the victim’s head is repetitive thinking of potential negative future…This disorder could last up to a little of six months or could last up to a lifetime. It all depends on the sevreness of it. What differentness an anxiety disorder from the normal human emotion ‘anxiety’ is that the disorder can cause distress that interferes with a person’s ability to live a normal life. Also, an anxiety disorder can be crippling unlike the emotion version which can go away in a matter of minutes.
Main Content: Stress, anxiety, and fear are normal phenomenon, which occurs when a person is worried or nervous as he/she isn’t sure about the outcome of any particular situation. This more often influences a person's behaviour towards a condition. The majority of individuals feel anxious about numerous circumstances, for example, individual life issues, career, health problems, low accomplishments and a lot more.
It is estimated that more women suffer from this condition than men. The first stage of hypnosis is evaluating the anxiety condition. This is done by a hypnotherapist. In this initial stage, the therapist will be trying to find out the source of the condition. It could be that there is a medical, physiological or even somatic basis for the existence of the ailment.
Scovel (1978) defined anxiety as “apprehension, a vague fear that is only indirectly associated with an object” (p.134). According to Scovel’s definition, anxiety is an inexplicable inner feeling that someone have toward somebody or something which constitute a condition of breakdown in actions. Darwin (1872) defined anxiety as a person’s internal feeling which are triggered whenever physical risks or danger exists. In his definition, the feeling of distress or discomfort exists when a physical harm occurs and thereby intellectual threats are rolled out of the equation. Beck et al (1985) stated that the inner feeling would launch a reaction toward the fears of something or somebody in his or her environment. May (1977) viewed anxiety as “an
With as many problems as there are today, including the stresses from family, jobs, school or socially, psychological disorders are very common. The stress of life, at one time or another, causes people to sometimes have a horrible feeling of anxiety. “Anxiety disorder is an alarm signal, heralding an imminent danger, allowing people to use all necessary measures to cope with the threat” (Yduoctinhhoa). People who have pathological anxiety usually experience excessive or disproportionate symptoms to the persistent threat. This affects their activities, and is possibly accompanied by thoughts or actions which seem excessive, repeated or prolonged, which influences their adaptation to life. The pressures of work, health, the family, the living
Everyone has feelings of anxiety at some point in their life, whether it is about preparing for a job interview, meeting a partner’s family for the first time, or the preparing for parenthood. While we associate anxiety with alterations to our mental state, experienced as worry or apprehension perhaps, and physical symptoms such as raised heart rate and adrenaline, we also understand that it is likely to affect us, only temporarily until the source of our anxiety has passed or we learned to cope with it. Anxiety is therefore one of range of emotions that serves the positive function of alerting us to things we might need to worry about, things that are potentially harmful. More importantly, these emotions helped us to evaluate potential threats and respond to them in appropriate way, by focusing our attention.
Among many psychological disorders, anxiety disorders are the most predominant in the United States. According to Antony (2011), anxiety disorders affect nearly 28.8 percent of the population. An extreme and unrealistic anxiety is the most common symptom that characterizes all the psychological conditions within the category of anxiety disorders. The category includes specific phobia, agoraphobia, social phobia, panic disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, and obsessive-compulsive disorder. This paper examines obsessive-compulsive disorder discussing the major etymological explanations of anxiety disorders in general, specifically describing the condition, and discussing actual treatments for the disorder.
Anxiety is an emotion distinguished by feelings of tension, uneasy thoughts and physical changes caused by anticipation of danger. Anxiety can also be defined as a critical developmental stage related to change, dispute, and perceived control of the environment (Potter and Perry, 2014). Encountering occasional anxiety is a normal lifestyle, as everyone feels anxious from stressful situations that might make him/her nervous or fearful. In fact, mild anxiety might help an individual be more observant and focused while facing challenges or frightening situations. Anxiety as a life altering condition affects even individual’s thought and feeling of certain lifestyles. It most commonly affects Americans, and also the majority of people all over the world. For instance, a life-threatening, marital transition, or job stressor could increase the anxiety level of a patient and family. However, most adults frequently encounter anxiety in response to the physiological and psychosocial changes of middle age (Potter and Perry, 2014). Feeling anxious is common for many people of all ages, and a usual reaction to stress. It does help us reconsider life goals and motivates efficiency. It’s also normal to worry about illnesses, new social influences, or any frightening situation, but when such individual undergoes utmost fear and worry that does not lessen, it may affect activity of life which most likely could lead to an illness (Sakauye, 2008).
Since the 1980’s there has been a major increase in research on anxiety. Ever since, special clinics have been introduced in order to help deal with anxiety disorders. It is suggested that the growth in research is due to anxiety being regarded as one of the most prominent and pervasive emotions, causing distress and negatively affecting large numbers of people. As stated by Rachman (2004), anxiety is described as the experience of unpleasant feelings and the unsettling anticipation of a threatening but vague event. Anxiety can be experienced in many different ways, such as feeling tense, uncertain, and perhaps, fearful at the thought of a particular phenomenon or event. There are two main types of anxieties; state anxiety and trait anxiety. Endler & Kocovski (2001) have explained that state and trait anxiety both result from mental assessments of a potential threat. Unlike trait, state anxiety is described as a temporary condition, where once the perceived threatening object or event goes away, the individual no longer experiences the symptoms of anxiety. Individuals who exhibit state anxiety will normally feel anxious when going to job interviews, speaking in front of large crowds or sitting exams. State anxiety is considered to be useful at particular times, by making us more alert and enhance our performance, thus creating a fight or flight response (Rachman, 2004). However, in some cases where the feeling of anxiety is too overwhelming, it can have the
The aetiology of anxiety can be addressed from several perspectives using various theories. These include genetic, biologic, psychoanalytic, cognitive behaviour, and social-cultural theories (Shives, 2008).