Feeling overwhelmed and overloaded: How hypnotherapy could help

Most people will feel overwhelmed at some point. It can feel like you're almost drowning in never-ending to-do lists, the weight of all your responsibilities just dragging you further down.

The relentless struggle of taking one step forward and then two steps back. You're desperately reaching out and trying to grab hold of some sort of control and clarity but can't quite get a tight enough grip. It can feel like everything is just too much, and you can't see a way forward. And then, because of how draining all of this is, it can be a real struggle to communicate what you're feeling or what you need with those around you. 

Feeling overwhelmed, swamped and overloaded could be a sign that you're suffering from stress or anxiety.

Stress typically comes from external pressures like work, relationships or an event/situation you weren't expecting. Stress is our body's natural reaction to these types of events, and should help us be more alert and ready to take action to ensure we are safe. 

Anxiety comes from worry and fear about the future, or the 'what ifs' of life. It's a fear of what might happen, and we can find that those negative thoughts and worries then snowball and we end up visualising worst-case scenarios and convincing ourselves they will happen.  

Both stress and anxiety can impact us physically and emotionally as well as change our behaviour. Recognising and managing these responses is essential to keeping us well and maintaining a healthy balanced life. In this article, I'm going to talk you through how hypnotherapy could help.

What is hypnotherapy?

Hypnotherapy involves guided relaxation and focused attention to achieve a heightened state of awareness, often referred to as a trance. Contrary to what you might see on TV or social media, individuals under hypnosis are fully in control and cannot be made to do anything against their will. There are no magic tricks or mind control going on. You're just really relaxed and your hypnotherapist encourages your mind to slow down its thoughts and be calm. I then use my hypnotherapy training to teach your mind new reactions and habits to help you cope when those feelings of overwhelm, stress and anxiety begin. 

Managing overwhelm with hypnotherapy

One of the primary benefits of hypnotherapy is its ability to help you learn how to manage and ease those feelings of overwhelm and being snowed under. During the sessions, you'll distance yourself from what's causing these feelings, be able to gain a fresh perspective and take back control so you can feel much more focused and productive. 

Hypnotherapy sessions often include visualisation exercises of negative situations that have caused you stress or anxiety in the past and help teach you healthier ways of coping and taking back control. This can give you an immediate sense of empowerment and help you start to build resilience and cope more effectively in your daily life. By addressing the root causes of overwhelm, you're addressing it properly and learning new ways of managing it. 

How to find the time for hypnotherapy

If you've got this far into this article, I bet you're thinking that this all sounds great but you've already got too much to do, how would you ever manage to find the time for hypnotherapy sessions?

When life gets too much, and we're spinning too many plates it's very easy to stop prioritising ourselves and to just fall into a survival mode. It's very hard to get out of this on your own – don't get me wrong, it's not impossible, but it would be harder to do by yourself compared to working with a therapist. 

Online hypnotherapy sessions can make it easier to find the time for therapy. You don't have to factor in travel time, childcare, mobility needs or other commitments. So it's less for you to have to organise, and less to add to the mental load you're already carrying. You will often find that appointments are also available later into the evening if they are online, so again it's easier to fit it in around your daily life.  

You may also find that online sessions are more effective than visiting a hypnotherapist's office. Many of my clients have said they go deeper into trance when we work online, probably because they are in their own environment, they are more comfortable and generally find it easier to relax. This can then enhance the effectiveness of hypnotherapy as you're more at ease and open to the therapeutic process.

So if you are feeling overwhelmed or overburdened, then hypnotherapy could be a good way of improving your mental well-being. Online hypnotherapy might offer you the flexibility you need to make time for yourself and help ease the pressure you're feeling at the moment.