Anxiety

When it really feels as though your world is closing in on you…

More and more, Monica* felt her anxiety was taking over her life – stealing her sleep and stealing the joy from things she used to like to do. The relentless worry and “what-ifs” kept spiraling out of control – triggered by a situation, a sensation, or even just a thought… paralyzing her, terrifying her.

Monica’s anxiety continued to grow because her amygdala (the brain’s anxiety center) became hypersensitive. More and more readily, it was pushing the “panic button,” causing her heart to race, tying her stomach into knots, and making it almost impossible for her to think about anything but fear.

And it’s not just the anxiety itself. It’s worse than that.

It was Monica’s fear of the fear. She worried about having a humiliating attack in front of others. What would people think? The embarrassment. The shame. It was all too terrible to bear.

Mundane things like going to the grocery store, eating at a restaurant, or attending a work meeting were just too scary. So, she avoided them. And so the anxiety spread… getting bigger and bigger… as her world shrank smaller and smaller.

Reaching out for help…

Monica was ready. She reached out, and I was there to help. After her very first session, she walked out feeling noticeably better. Calmer. Optimistic.

She practiced the tools she was learning. Her comfort and confidence grew. Her amygdala was calming down, and so was she. Her world was expanding again.

Today Monica is free. She is the master now. She has conquered anxiety because she understands its place and how it can run amok. Her amygdala helps keep her safe, but she keeps it in check.

She is so much happier now. She’s free to move through the world with relative ease. Feeling calm, comfortable, and confident has become a habit for her. She knows anxiety is a natural and healthy part of life. She also knows how to deal with stressful situations without losing control. And while it took some courage, and time and effort… it was SO worth it!

It’s not your fault. Blame hungry lions!

Monica’s struggle with anxiety used to make her feel weak and pathetic.

She blamed herself and felt ashamed and embarrassed about it. But she was relieved to learn that all human brains automatically default to the negative. This is called a “natural negativity bias,” and it evolved over millions of years to help keep us safe in a world full of predators that wanted to eat us.

She learned our prehistoric ancestors who assumed a rustling in the bushes was the wind when in fact it was a hungry lion – and they ended up as lunch and were therefore unable to pass down their genes.

She realized she didn’t need to be so hard on herself for having fallen prey to anxiety, because all human brains are pre-set to be on the lookout for danger and assume the worst-case scenario… just in case. Even though we no longer live in a world where human beings must watch out for hungry lions while we go about our daily lives… unless you work at the zoo.

It’s typical for people dealing with anxiety to struggle with intrusive thoughts and other symptoms.

Let’s talk about some of these thoughts and symptoms so you know you are not alone in your struggle.

Common kinds of thoughts anxiety sufferers worry about are: Saying or doing something that will offend someone, that something bad will happen, that you’ve forgotten something important, that someone important in your life is upset with you, that you’ll do something that others will judge you for, that you’ll look stupid or do something embarrassing in public. Are any of these thoughts familiar to you?

Monica had many anxious thoughts like these, and she also had her own set of anxiety symptoms. Like Monica, people struggling with anxiety and panic attacks experience a whole list of symptoms and strange body sensations. No two people are the same but many of the clients I work with describe a general sense of nervousness or jitteriness, inability to calm down, rapid heart rate or feeling their heart skips a beat, light-headedness, nausea, dizziness, tingling sensations, sweating, a flushed face, dry mouth, tightness in the chest, headache, digestive issues, blurred or tunnel vision, inability to focus, trembling, among others.

These unwanted thoughts and feelings can cause even more distress and worry, especially when you don’t know what’s going on. And worrying about them can easily create a vicious cycle and contributes to the “fear of the fear” I mentioned before. And your anxious symptoms and sensations not only make life miserable, but it makes it hard to even have a life. Because people tend to try to avoid situations that trigger them, the anxiety spreads, and the world they feel safe in shrinks smaller and smaller.

It doesn’t have to be that way. While I won’t tell you, your life will always be easy, happy, and free of stress, I can help you become the master of anxiety in your life – instead of anxiety’s slave.

Here’s how we’ll have you mastering your anxiety…

I’ll help you learn how to master anxiety by moving you through a four-phase process.

In the first phase you will learn to overcome your intolerance to anxiety. You will learn to see that the lions you had been running from have no teeth and no claws. The fear of the fear will be gone, and you’ll be able to participate in your life again. During phase one you’ll still feel some anxiety from time to time, but it won’t bother you. You’ll be freer, knowing that even when you are feeling some anxiety, you no longer let it rule your life. You will be in control and that will feel awesome!

Phase two shows up when you do something that used to give you anxiety and you realize the anxiety and the accompanying symptoms simply aren’t there. You’ll become more and more aware that you haven’t even thought about anxiety for some time. No checking in was needed. It will almost feel like you forgot to freak out. I’m sure you can imagine – this will be a very liberating moment for you.

Then, you’ll move into phase three. You will start doing lots of different activities again and can finally move on with your life. You’ll arrive at a point where you will become aware that feeling calm, comfortable, and at ease have pretty much become a habit for you. You may feel surprised that you don’t even remember the last time you felt anxious. You’ll wonder if it’s all in the past now.

Phase four is a very important moment. It may be months or even years down the road and long after our work together is complete. Sooner or later, that anxiety will try to return. You may be walking down the road of life with clear skies and sunshine every day. Then, a little shadow of anxiety tries to appear.

That may sound scary right now.

But you’ll be prepared. By that time, because you’ll have done the work, you’ll know exactly how to respond and just what to do and that anxiety won’t stand a chance.

You will win – and the anxiety will fail miserably. Because you cannot unlearn what you’ll understand at every level because of our work together.

When that day comes, you will know you have conquered anxiety and panic for good. You are the master – and you will be so grateful that you learned to take back control.

Invest in Your Success

Part of knowing if hypnotherapy at Boise Hypnosis is right for you is understanding the pricing. I do not take insurance. Much of what I do I learned years ago from two very skilled hypnotherapists who commanded fees of $500/session and $425/session, respectively. My results are very comparable to theirs and are actually better in the areas I specialize. I strive to be affordable and therefore currently only charge $197 for a session. However, clients rarely come to see me for a single session.

In the vast majority of cases dealing with anxiety issues I recommend starting with a small 3 session package. I’ll give you a few reasons why nearly everyone chooses a package.:

The #1 reason people go with a package is so they can get in to see me at a frequency that works best. In most situations it’s best to see me once a week. I do great work and my schedule is usually quite full. If someone comes in for a single session they nearly always love it and want to get in again the following week. But, too often – by that time my schedule is booked up for several weeks (or even months) and they have to wait weeks (or months) to get in to see me again – and that’s frustrating!

Therefore, nearly all my clients will get started with a small package, those sessions are prepaid and so they are scheduled immediately. When you get a hypnotherapy package at Boise Hypnosis those appointments are reserved for you and you can enjoy the peace of mind that you will be able to get in once a week (or whatever frequency works best for you).

Another important reason is that while hypnotherapy usually works really fast compared to other forms of therapy, hypnotherapy is not magic – hypnotherapy is therapy. For most issues, most clients will only need to see me for 3-6 sessions. I generally don’t like to see clients for less than three sessions. It makes sense to most people to have at least a few sessions to work together, to address the issue with a few different approaches, and make sure we’re getting the results you want. And, in my experience, it is the most effective approach.

The third good reason is that clients who go with a package get a discount off the regular rate.

One session is $197. So, 3 sessions are valued at $591.

But, a 3 session anxiety package is just $561 [You save $30!]