Understanding stress: How hypnotherapy can help
Stress is the physiological response in your body when you feel threatened. To use the words of Robert M. Sapolsky, a stressor is anything in the outside world that knocks you out of homeostatic balance, and the stress response is what your body does to reestablish homeostasis.

As a human, you will experience natural threats – such as predators, starvation or physical injury. You’ll also experience human-created threats – traffic, financial worries, deadlines. Your body expects the natural threats and has the perfect physiological adaptations to manage them. Some natural stressors are long-term and create chronic physical challenges, such as those who must walk miles a day to get water. Even in these situations, the body’s stress response will deal with it well enough.
Problems occur with humans when the stressor becomes the anticipation of a stress happening. Humans have the unique ability to activate our stress response by thinking about a stressor that may occur in the future.
What is the stress response?
To return the body to homeostasis, it releases hormones such as cortisol and adrenaline, which prepare it to fight or flee. This causes an increased heart rate, blood pressure, and breathing rate to transport nutrients and oxygen quickly.
The body pauses digestion, growth, reproduction and the immune system. Sexual drive decreases in both males and females, females are less likely to ovulate, and males secrete less testosterone. Your body expects small bursts of stress, and in some circumstances it is beneficial. However, chronic stress can become more damaging than the stressor itself. This is especially true when the stress is psychological.
The impact of stress on well-being
Very few people need someone to tell them the effect of stress on well-being. We can all feel it well enough. It causes tiredness, increases the risk of heart disease, causes reproductive issues, and makes you more likely to get ill due to the impediment of the immune system. More simply – it just doesn’t feel nice.
The role of hypnotherapy in stress management
Primarily hypnotherapy will help you manage stress by seeking to address the root cause of your stress. The simplest thing your hypnotherapy sessions will provide you with is a block of time focused on finding a way to explore whatever is causing stress in your life. Many of us forget to block out time for introspection. A therapy session, regardless of the modality, is a way to do this. You’ll spend some time in your session talking through your situation. Your therapist will listen actively, helping you find the answers you need.
The second stage of your hypnotherapy sessions will help you find a plan to stop this stressor. The cause of your stress is personal to you, and your hypnotherapist will individualise the session. Some people will need to make lifestyle or life changes, and others will need to reframe their perspective. Once you have cultivated a plan with your therapist, you can start implementing the change using hypnosis to help the process.
Sometimes this will take several sessions. Your hypnotherapist will help you return your body to a state of homeostasis during the session by using a simple relaxing guided meditation. Some research shows physiological benefits to meditation. However, these benefits exist whilst the person is meditating and don’t necessarily follow through once they stop.
However, the consensus is that meditation is beneficial for your health, provided you do it daily for 15-30 minutes at a time. Your hypnotherapist can help you use self-hypnosis/meditation, so you can do so every day in between sessions. You will also learn strategies to deal with future stressors.
Hypnotherapy can help you manage stress by seeking to address the root cause of your stress. Allowing you to reframe negative thought patterns, release tension, and develop healthier coping mechanisms for long-term resilience.
Self-hypnosis for everyday stress management
If you need a quick pick me up, try this little self-hypnosis exercise to bring your body back into equilibrium, so you can feel better about your day.
Find a quiet place
Sit or lie down in a comfortable position in a peaceful environment where no one will disturb you. This is easy if you’re at home, but if you’re in the office or public place, you can still achieve the same by locking yourself away in a toilet for five minutes.
Focus on your breathing
Close your eyes and take slow, deep breaths. If you can make your exhale longer than your inhale, this is beneficial – as is breathing down into your abdomen so your belly rises rather than your chest. While this will help the physiological symptoms of stress, it isn’t something to get hung up on.
Progressive relaxation
Mentally scan your body from head to toe, releasing tension from each muscle group. Take your time with this. Start at the top of your head, relaxing your hair follicles. Moving down to your forehead and each part of your face, before you move through your neck and to your shoulders. Continue making sure you consider every part of your body you can access feeling in. With each exhale, imagine any tension drifting away.
Create a calm place
Picture yourself in a serene, calming environment. Maybe a beach, forest, or mountain. Focus on all your senses: hear the soothing sounds, feel the warmth or coolness of the air, and smell the fresh scent around you. Imagine yourself fully immersed in this peaceful scene.
If visualisation isn’t easy for you, try something that engages your cognition, such as naming an animal for each letter of the alphabet, in order. For example, antelope, bison, cat. Continue all the way through. Whether you’re using the visual exercise or the cognitive, when you notice your mind wander, bring it immediately back to the task. For the alphabet game, you can start at the beginning each time.
Positive suggestion
When you feel like you have control of your thinking, repeat a calming affirmation in your mind, such as, "I am calm, in control, and at peace".
Gradually reorient yourself to the here and now
When you feel ready, slowly bring yourself back by wiggling your fingers and toes. Take a deep breath, and when you’re ready, open your eyes, feeling refreshed and calm.
