Aspiring Spirit

Many people feel uncomfortable or experience some degree of anxiousness when entering a new situation or a crowd of people they don’t know. Unfortunately, for roughly ten percent of people, social anxiety can become severe enough to be disabling. Scientists now think that an even larger group of people probably have to deal with more mild forms of social anxieties that can lead to significant issues in daily social situations.

The term for this type of anxiety is ’social phobia’. Social Phobia most often happens when a person experiences fears or worries that often are caused by being involved in a social situation. Someone who has a social phobia may also struggle with forcing themselves to stop thinking too much about how others are passing judgment on or evaluating him or her.

For people who suffer from social phobia, feelings of anxiety can happen in many different types of situations, such as going to the store, attending parties, speaking in public, standing in front of a group of people, or being given an interviewed. These kinds of social anxieties can also make themselves apparent in the body; for many people with social phobia, sweating, blushing, shaking, or intestinal issues can happen when facing these types of high stress situations.

Scientists now think that social phobia involves issues with self-confidence. Self-confidence is the ability to feel that we are able to make the right decisions, be independent, and take power over our lives. Those who have trouble with self-confidence — an all-too common issue in today’s high-stress world — may worry too much about how they are perceived, which may eventually lead to not wanting to participate in social events or of beginning to feel a loss of control.

Fortunately, though, there are some basic actions someone with self-confidence issues can take in order to get back this control. One possible action a person who suffers from self-confidence issues can take is to make use of an anxiety and phobia workbook. You can think of the anxiety and phobia workbook as a simple method to get insight into the issues you are experiencing by maintaining a journal of triggers and mood-related symptoms; the anxiety and phobia workbook also contains activities to do that will help you build more introspection about your self-confidence issues.

When you have gotten to the point at which you have started to have insight about your issues with self-confidence, and have made the decision that it is now time to begin building self-confidence, then it might make sense to think about a kind of therapy that has been shown to be extremely successful in social phobia. Just like the anxiety and phobia workbook, this special kind of therapy is defined by being focused on assisting you to become pro-active and develop power over your life. In sum, you will be curing your own problems.

This kind of treatment, called hypnosis, works by taking control of the hidden powers of your unconscious to help you become confident, assured, calm, and comfortable with yourself. Believe it or not, we are all born with these capabilities, but because of traumatic life events, learned disempowerment, and difficult social interactions, we often lose sight of our inborn abilities to take control of these powers. Hypnotherapy has been scientifically demonstrated to be successful for people who have self-confidence and anxiety issues.

Many people who suffer from self-confidence and other anxiety-related issues often seek out a quick fix solution, such as pills, herbal products, and short courses of psychotherapy. Although these strategies can help some people, they don’t really address the root of our self-confidence issues - our unconscious. In order to deal with self-confidence issues, you have to be in charge of your own cure.

If you do decide to look into hypnotherapy to help you acquire self-confidence, you will receive a course of treatments with a hypnotherapist who will help you to enter a deep state of calmness. Within this place of relaxation, your unconscious is wide open and available to be reached by suggestive techniques. Your hypnotherapist will then work with you in this open mental state by using repetitive suggestion to help you to realize that you are a confident, strong, and independent person.

Other options for people who struggle to deal with self-confidence are to participate in hypnosis therapy through video or audio CDs or tapes, which can be viewed or listened to in the comfort of your own house. Many people also discover that learning self-hypnosis, a specific relaxation technique in which it is possible for you to open yourself up to your innermost wants and needs, with just a little bit of assistance, is very helpful. Whatever type of anxiety hypnotherapy you choose, you can be certain that you are undertaking a critical step in enacting your own treatment and recovery.

Alan B. Densky, CH has invented several hypnotherapeutic techniques for the treatment of social phobias. His website offers a complete hypnosis article library devoted to every aspect of self-hypnosis and NLP. Visit for Free hypnosis videos, downloads, and newsletters.

- Alan B. Densky, CH