Avoiding going out? Don’t worry, hypnotherapy can help

You feel comfortable at home. It’s safe, it's cosy and nothing unexpected can happen. There are no strange faces, or people looking at you. It’s nice.

It’s great that you love being home, but (there usually is a but isn’t there!) is it so nice at home because you hate going out?

Some people even avoid going out at all and only leave the house to go to work because they have to. Perhaps you feel uncomfortable at the thought of doing it, at going out. You get a tight, heavy sensation in your chest and your heart feels like it’s about to jump out of your body.

Social anxiety is quite common, with the constant flow of information around us, it’s easy to become absorbed with worrying about what others think about us and whether they are judging us. Or what if they laugh at you? These are just some of the internal thoughts you might have with yourself that starts your pattern of behaviour, where you avoid going out and being around other people.

People often spend time thinking “what if this happens?” and because you don’t know for certain that it won’t happen, you just don’t go, because it’s safer. Speaking up when you have something to say seems impossible, you just feel the need to fade into the background because there is no other way, or is there?

These thoughts and feelings can quickly escalate, and things like talking on the phone, can even become a problem. When experiencing anxiety we do what we need to do, in order to protect ourselves. However, avoiding situations/people/places etc. actually worsens your anxiety. The relief is short lived and the next time it becomes even harder to go and do that thing. The way that you talk to yourself, the unhelpful thoughts that you experience, and your own internal predictions make it even harder still to overcome this anxiety, and that is why hypnotherapy is so great.

When you use hypnotherapy, you work together with your hypnotherapist to begin changing those unhelpful thoughts and replace them with better ones too. Better thoughts that will serve you in a different way and help you to reach that goal of not being afraid to go out – of course there can be more than one goal!

Hypnotherapy can also make it easier for you to actually do the things that seem so scary as well, so that when you do go out to the place that you have been avoiding, it’s much less stressful, you might even feel like you’ve done it before! You can relax, and enjoy the experience whilst you are learning ways to calm your body and mind.

Not only that, you will be equipped with the tools and techniques you need to tackle what the future holds. You are empowered to be you, because no one else can.