Cognitive Therapy Basics

Hypnose (or hypnosis) has been accepted for a long period of time as a mental state which is very similar to sleep. Induced by suggestion, this practice has allowed therapists and other specialists to enter ones subconscious. Today, we know much more facts about hypnosis and hypnotherapy. There is no more room for controversies or prejudice, given how useful hypnose really is.If you are curious about finding out more about this subject, then you should definitely keep on reading. You will be informed about how powerful can suggestions be for a person who is about to be hypnotized, but also how important is to be genuinely relaxed before the hypnose session. The Internet is also a pretty good source of information, with hundreds of specialized websites tackling this very interesting subject. It all depends on how much are you interested in finding out.There is another fascinating fact about hypnose. Even though most people prefer going to a trained hypnotist for a session, there are probably just as many who induce this mental state by themselves. Self-induced hypnose is practiced by people from various corners of the world, starting with a state of relaxation and different suggestions. This is the only way to reach the subconscious mind and experience a unique state where peripheral consciousness is reduced to a very low level.Being under hypnose means that all of your senses will be modified. Memories might be brought back to you. You might experience new thoughts or old emotions. No one can tell for certain what is going to happen while you are hypnotized. Interesting experiments have been made to demonstrate that hypnose can be used to cure various medical conditions, including spastic colon or different skin conditions. In some cases, it has been proved that hypnosis might be used instead of substance-induced anesthesia. As the number of people suffering from different phobias increased, hypnose started to be perceived as one possible treatment. It did not take too long for hypnosis to enter the list of recommended treatments. Nowadays, fobi and other anxiety disorders are successfully treated with hypnose sessions. While they are under the state of hypnosis, phobic persons are instructed to recall any event or situation that may have triggered their fobi. They use their experience to relate these events or happenings to the predispositions of the person. Using all of this information, one might provide the person suffering from a certain phobia with very important suggestions.There are millions of people out there who have been diagnosed as suffering from fobi. Some are afraid of how they will deal in social situations, thus having what is known as a social phobia. Others are terrified of spiders, dogs or flying. Many people will not even dare to go on an elevator or sit on the top of a building, being scared of heights. When such fears prevent them from functioning normally, the term of fobi can be definitely used. Fortunately, there are different types of treatment out there and not only hypnose. Cognitive behavioral therapy is starting to become more and more popular, offering incredible results.Suffering from a fobi can make you change your life. Do not take such a turn and seek out for help. Use the Internet to discover more information about different phobias, search for ways to overcome your fears. Talk with a therapist about your fobi, learn about self-induced hypnosis and you will be alright in no time!

Exposure therapy is suggested to be one of the best ways to overcome your anxiety. To master something in life it is necessary first to think about it, and then actually practice doing it. Remember when you first started to learn how to drive. The more you practiced the better you became. This is the basis of exposure therapy. You actually need to go into the situation and think about it in a different way, implement the other skills and knowledge you have to mange your anxiety, and then reflect on how it went.

There is a word of caution here. Some research suggests ‘facing the fear and doing it anyway’. For some people this may work however for others it doesn’t. Learning the skills and techniques of cognitive therapy and educating yourself on where your anxiety is actually coming from in the first place, prior to exposing yourself to the situation, can often have better outcomes as you can feel more in control before you enter the situation, rather than going in feeling absolutely terrified.

When you feel anxious, it is suggested that you go through it firstly in your mind (realistic thinking/skills of cognitive therapy), and secondly, put yourself in the situation that you fear. This part is called exposure therapy.

In general, exposure therapy with response prevention is probably one of the most effective treatments. It’s a fairly straightforward type of treatment. Some people have already begun it on their own – in a way.

Exposure therapy is what it sounds like, exposing the person to whatever it is that causes their fear. The process usually begins by gradually introducing the patient to the feared situation and works towards helping them develop constructive responses to their fear. For example, a patient with severe arachnophobia (a fear of spiders) may begin by talking about “creatures with eight legs” and end up being able to sweep spiders away when they see one.

The therapy is very systematic. You first write down the situations with spiders that scare you and then categorize them from least frightening to most frightening. You will also have to learn an effective relaxation technique to employ when in these situations.

The next step is to imagine coping with the situations at the lowest levels on your list while engaging in relaxation. Gradually, the anxiety will subside. You stay at the same level until the anxiety provoked by the stimulus becomes tolerable. Then you move on to the next level and you work your way up to the top of the hierarchy. These exercises can be done in imagery as well as in reality.

The final step is gradual exposure. This is done without relaxation. With a trusted person’s guidance, you expose yourself to real phobic situations. Again, you proceed step by step, from the least to the most frightening, and remain in the situation until the anxiety subsides.

You can involve pictures of spiders in your exposure therapy when you practice the exposure steps. Starting with a picture of a spider can be a very non-threatening way to at least be able to look at the spider and imagine how you will cope when it’s the real thing!