Fear, our mind’s appropriate response to a perceived threat, is intended to propel us toward actions and behaviors designed to protect us from harm. This is what we commonly call the fight or flight response. Anxiety, on the other hand, is a mood condition that can be severely paralyzing, thereby preventing us from being capable of taking the necessary steps to avoid the very consequences we dread. Where does this self-sabotaging condition stem from and how can we disconnect its debilitating hold on our mind?
Targeting the Source
Most therapeutic methods, such as counseling, cognitive behavioral therapy and coaching, work on a conscious level. The conscious mind, however, represents merely the tip of the iceberg. The power of hypnotherapy lies in its ability to work at a subconscious level, thereby directly targeting the source. Hiding underneath the surface of our conscious mind, the subconscious is the control center of our behaviors, actions and reactions.
Unveiling the Root Cause
In a state of hypnosis, by focusing on the symptoms experienced when anxiety strikes, we are able to track the condition back to its root cause or ISE (Initial Sensitizing Event). The original imprint, responsible for the panic and anxiety, is unveiled. What we call an imprint is a statement, experience or perception our subconscious mind took in as truth at a level so deep, it bypassed our conscious, logical barriers and became edged in the emotional fabric of our mind, embedded as truth. The event itself is often forgotten thereafter, leaving us with an "imprinted" truth that becomes our reality, influences our actions and reactions and changes the course of our path.
Analyzing imprints at the subconscious level of the mind, while in a state of hypnosis, enables us to delete the negative programming left behind by authority figures, emotional or traumatic events, restore our self-image and renew our original potential.
Clinical Case Files
Read the inspirational true story of a young woman who, after years of paralyzing anxiety, turned her life and her career around in a single session in our office: Exam Anxiety Case Files
Clinical Hypnotherapy
Learn more about clinical hypnotherapy for exam stress, panic and anxiety: Hypnosis in Portland, Oregon and worldwide.
© GMB ~ Headquartered in Portland, Oregon, Genvièv Martin-Bernard is a Forensic and Clinical Hypnotherapist who consults locally, nationally and internationally. A published author, she serves as Vice-President of the Oregon Hypnotherapy Association and is a professional member of the National Guild of Hypnotists.
