Can you manage social anxiety with hypnosis? For most people, that sounds far-fetched or unbelievable. Hypnosis, we’ve seen it in movies and on TV. It’s can’t possibly provide therapeutic benefits…
Or can it?
Stage hypnotists have given this powerful meditative tool a bad rap. The truth is: We’ve been using hypnotherapy for hundreds of years in therapy settings. In fact, a body of research suggests hypnosis isn’t just a powerful tool for managing social anxiety; in some cases, hypnotherapy can help sufferers beat all forms of anxiety entirely.
But why is that? How does hypnosis work? And more importantly, how can people who experience anxiety get started using hypnosis right now?
Gaining Control Over Our Social Anxiety
Social anxiety, for many sufferers, is the result of automatic thinking. We find ourselves in a stressful social situation, and our palms might start to sweat and thoughts begin to race. We feel anxious.
In other words, it’s all automatic.
The stressful stimuli – whether a first date, or an office holiday party – sends an electrical charge to the brain. And there, subconsciously, the mind jumps into action and tells the body how to react.
Over time, we’ve taught the subconscious how to respond to these stimuli. And we’ve reinforced these ideas over many years. The subconscious, thusly, is very skilled at reacting, but unfortunately, this conditioned reaction is problematic, unhealthy and affects quality of life.
So how can hypnosis help social anxiety?
In short, a hypnotherapy plan can help us reduce or eliminate these automatic, subconscious responses, empower us to be more in tune with our emotions, have greater control over our thoughts, and help us release past traumas that bring on stress and anxious thinking.
Here’s the problem: Most of us are unfamiliar with hypnosis. It’s a foreign subject, and we don’t have the slightest clue how to get started.
What Is Hypnosis?
Unlike what we’ve seen in popular culture, we don’t lose control during hypnosis. And it can’t be used for mind control or brain-washing.
Instead, the goal of hypnosis is reaching a state of heightened focus and relaxation. The process enables us to shut down the conscious mind – that voice in your head – and talk directly to the subconscious. When we’re in this state, the subconscious mind is very receptive to new information and suggestions.
We like to say that hypnosis is meditation with a goal. And that’s because in both hypnosis and meditation, we seek a similar frame of mind.
But the difference is that with hypnosis, we aren’t just going to relax the mind. We want to work directly with the subconscious when we get there, providing it with new information and ways to process sensory information in the real-world. Through repetition, we can begin to retrain the subconscious to react in more helpful ways.
What Is Self-Hypnosis?
Self-hypnosis, simply stated, is following a hypnosis plan by yourself. With self-hypnosis, there is no need for a recording or the help of a licensed hypnotherapist. You can practice self-hypnosis in your living room.
With self-hypnosis, you follow all the steps to achieve hypnosis. But you’re doing it by reading a hypnosis script. The steps might include:
- Relaxing the body and mind
- Providing hypnoaffirmations (or suggestions for your subconscious)
- And visualizing yourself free of anxiety.
Self-hypnosis is a powerful tool for anxiety.
For starters, it can be utilized anytime – like prior to a stressful experience, or in response to a stressful situation (when you might be feeling anxious). It’s something you can practice every day, at home, work, or even on public transportation. And it’s a tool that, once you master, you can use throughout your life.
Getting Started with Self-Hypnosis for Social Anxiety
Now, before you get started, it’s important to recognize the steps of a self-hypnosis session and understand how they help you empower the subconscious.
It’s fairly simple. In fact, using self-hypnosis for anxiety can take just a few minutes, or up to 15 minutes. The steps include:
- Relaxation Techniques: Self-hypnosis starts with relaxing the body and mind. Deep breathing, for example, is the most common technique used. Therefore, before you start, you might be asked to take several deep breaths in and long breaths out. Starting with relaxation prepares the body to let go of worry, and enter that deep, relaxed frame of mind.
- Entering Hypnosis: Self-hypnosis requires you to follow a script that will help your mind relax. Most hypnosis scripts walk you through the process of reaching a state of hypnosis. You might start with something as simple as repeating a countdown and positive affirmations. Now, your body and mind are relaxed, and you’re entering into a state of hypnosis (which is similar to a day dream).
- Reciting Hypnoaffirmations: Once you’ve reached a state of intense focus and relaxation, you can access the subconscious and speak directly to it. In this state, the subconscious is very open to suggestions, and that’s what a hypnoaffirmations is: a positively-worded, realistic suggestion related to anxiety. An example for someone with social anxiety might be: “I feel confident when meeting new people.” These suggestions form the basis of hypnosis — they help us release our existing automatic subconscious thoughts that keep anxiety in place.
- Visualization: Many social anxiety hypnosis scripts include visualization. For example, you may be asked to visual yourself free of worry, confident and collected. This helps to reinforce the suggestions. Ultimately, you’d like to stay in this relaxed, calm state until you’re are ready to awake and go about your day – in that sense it’s much like meditation too.
Our hypnosis recording, “Overcome Social Anxiety” walks you through these steps. It's a helpful tool for quickly alleviating social anxiety through hypnosis in the short-term, as well as improving your confidence in social settings over the long-term. A helpful recording is also one of the easiest ways to start a self-hypnosis practice of your own.
What to Expect from Self-Hypnosis
A great thing about hypnosis: You can expect to see results after your very first session. They may be subtle, or they may be quite pronounced. But letting the mind unwind and the body relax will certainly provide relief. Some of the most common benefits include:
- Sense of Clarity: Hypnosis gives your mind and body a chance to relax. When you open your eyes, you’ll likely feel refreshed.
- Reduced Symptoms: A common benefit: After hypnosis, your anxiety symptoms will have likely decreased. That's why it's great to do before a stressful social situation. You’ll feel less worry and increased confidence.
- Lifted Mood: Anxiety can exacerbate stress and lead to racing thoughts. A quick hypnosis session can help to improve mood in a matter of minutes.
Long-Term Results Takes Time. Remember that self-hypnosis is a skill. And like learning any new skill, it takes time to master. You shouldn’t expect to sit down and reach the same state as someone who has practiced for many, many years.
But you’ll be surprised how easy it comes with regular practice.
You will likely feel a reduce in symptoms, or a calm sense of clarity following your first self-hypnosis session. And the research suggests lasting benefits can occur after just six sessions.
So be patient! If you stick with it, you will experience incremental progress.
Tips for Achieving a Consistent Self-Hypnosis Practice
Self-hypnosis works the best through regular practice. That’s particularly true for a condition like anxiety, which can be triggered in an instant by a stressful situation.
So as you begin experimenting with self-hypnosis, remember: Make a plan to add time to practice once a day for a week, before you give it up. That’s not always easy. We lead busy lives, and finding an extra 5-15 minutes can be a challenge. But it’s important.
Here are a few tips to help you keep a consistent hypnosis practice:
- Quiet, Comfortable Location – Find a quiet corner in your home or office to create a hypnosis space. A comfortable chair, plants, blinds to shut out natural light, or a water feature can all help to increase the serenity of your space.
- Pick a Time – Setting a time for hypnosis can be helpful in keeping you on track. But the trick is to not be so precise. Rather than saying, “I will do this everyday at noon!” Say: “When I break for lunch, I will be sure to practice meditation.
- Start Slowly: If you started a jogging regime, you wouldn’t try to run 20 miles your first day. The same is true about hypnosis. Pace yourself. Commit first to short bursts you can keep consistent with – like a 5-minute session each day. Then, gradually work your way up.
- Focus on Fundamentals: As you begin, focus your attention on form. Practice your deep breathing, good posture, follow your script, and read your hypnoaffirmations with conviction.
- Track Progress: Anxiety can begin to recede slowly, and that makes it difficult for you to gauge your progress. As you begin, keep a journal. Note how you felt before and after, and write down how you respond to stressful situations throughout the day.
- Keep Learning: Master hypnotherapists with decades of practice under their belts continue to learn. Read books about hypnosis. Learn new techniques. Explore research and studies. Expanding your knowledge will help you maximize effectiveness.
- Have Fun: Hypnosis should be something you look forward to – like a nap or a massage for your mind. Take a break if it begins to feel like a chore. Or space your sessions out – like a longer session on the weekend.
Start Your Self-Hypnosis Journey Today
Social anxiety doesn’t have to control your life. Remember that. With consistent training, you can empower your subconscious to be a better ally, to respond in stressful situations in a more helpful way.
The good news: You can start exploring self-hypnosis right now! Find a quiet corner, grab a script, and give it a try! You might be surprised with how much your mood changes from before and after.
Get started now with these resources from GraceSpace.
I love looking at these vista’s. Living in Nevada I feel less anxiety just by seeing them. It helps me stop and breath and be free.
Graduating from one of the top hypnosis schools in the country, I knew the effectiveness of hypnosis on anxiety. However, SELF-HYPNOSIS on this particular subject has been difficult for me to execute. Reading this article re-encourages me to give it another go! How wonderful would life be when I can self-hypnotize my anxiety into being managed?! Wouldn’t that be great?! That would rock my world!
This article is great because it is a deep dive into the positive impacts of hypnosis on our daily life. It’s not only a solution for anxiety but for all areas of our stress and discomfort. I like how the article demonstrates how easily and effortlessly we can do self-hypnosis. This is a really informative article! Great work!
Thank you so much for taking the time to not only explain hypnosis but to also give *tangible* advice about how to access it personally. I have dealt with anxiety for the majority of my life and hypnotherapy has allowed me a tool in identifying where it came from and why it happens. It allowed me to go from feeling powerless to powerful. Thank you again!
I love how this article talks about something so simple as self-hypnosis (relaxing, affirmations, visualization) being able to control and reduce something so damaging and paralyzing as anxiety. I suffer from anxiety, so I know how effective these techniques can be.
I love this article, it’s so relatable. I can’t remember a time in my life when I didn’t feel socially anxious. I’ve been managing it lately simply by understanding how the mind works. Understanding how the mind works, it’s easier to take action to reprogram it. Hypnosis (or Self-hypnosis) is the easiest and most effective way to reprogram the subconscious to work FOR us instead of AGAINST us.
Great read!
This article is great as it explains what hypnosis is and is not. I love how it gives you step by step instructions for self hypnosis in overcoming what is keeping us from becoming our most radiant being!
What I like about the practice of self-hypnosis is that it produces results and is something that you can do anywhere (except operating a motor vehicle) at anytime. I mean it might be weird to do in the middle of a busy sidewalk, but really you can do it anywhere which fits into our busy lives. While doing self hypnosis you are still very aware of your surroundings, so if your sitting out on a park bench put a pair of sunglasses on and dive in. It really changes your state of mind effortlessly within minutes.
So many people in today’s day have severe anxiety.. In their jobs, at home, when speaking in front of people. You name it. It’s a very crippling feeling that can lead to symptoms that will physically make one ill. Hypnotherapy can help reduce or eliminate these feelings and therefore the unwanted symptoms (palms sweating, loss of hunger, chills etc), and empower one to be more in tuned with their emotions… allowing for the subconscious to take over and calm them. This will result in attaining greater control and less anxious thinking. Hypnosis, like meditation is in YOUR CONTROL. so is whether you are anxious or not.. hypnosis helps guide you into a place of relaxation.
Social anxiety is definitely an issue that has plagued me in my life. I’ve even referred to myself as anthrophobic; having a fear of people. I really like the description in this post about using self -hypnosis techniques. I’ve really been trying to use self- hypnosis more. I’m currently still in a bit of a socially anxious place, and will definitely be using these techniques to help me start to break out of my shell more.
Anxiety relief is just ONE of the amazing “side-effects” of hypnosis. Along with decreased stress levels, anxiety levels are also significantly decreased. You can tell right away. The changes are measurable because you can FEEL it. I’m not rushing through something as simple as making tea. I’m not impatient, tapping my feet in grocery store lines. Somebody cut me off in traffic yesterday and so immediately I braked and honked, to which the other driver stuck their middle finger out the window– I simply smiled and even laughed a little! It’s like there’s a newfound peace. I am loving hypnosis!
My first thoughts in reading this blog post were about how self hypnosis could be used to help seniors with anxiety. Often when people get older, their worlds become smaller and they shrink from past customary social situations. A smaller social community or reduced social interaction have been shown to reduce the quality and longevity of life.
Having an established practice of self hypnosis prior to entering the senior years of life would go a long way to helping maintain protective mental and physical resilience.
Most people don’t know that social anxiety is something I’ve struggled with most of my life… only through really increasing my awareness of my somatic reactions have I come to understand and go within to discover ways around what I thought was “the way I am”. I’m so grateful to Grace for all her work in developing tools to assist people in healing this health, joy and presence threatening issue.
The steps to self-hypnosis are so useful, social anxiety can cripple a person’s love life, not to mention business. And those suffering from social anxiety are not as likely to seek help, so thank you for sharing this.
This has such a place in my heart! The reason I discovered hypnotherapy at all was because I had such intense social anxiety I was searching for ANYTHING to help me. I was actually trying to learn about meditation and stumbled across hypnosis. I used Grace’s 30 day anxiety challenge when it was live, and it absolutely changed my life. Thank goodness I went for it! Now i’m about to be a certified hypnotherapist myself<3
Great post! Never realized that anxiety around social situations is reinforced time and time again in the subconscious mind. Therefore, the body beings responding as if on cue–yikes! Thank goodness, I can use self-hypnosis to change this pattern and feel more comfortable in larger social situtaions.
I realize I’ve always had a problem with social anxiety and I guess I have always told myself it was a choice I was making not to socialize. I feel uncomfortable starting conversations and fitting into a small group. It never occurred to me that I was holding myself back. I like going to social events but when I am there I find ways to hang back and not really enjoy the event. I think giving myself the confidence to be in social gatherings would be good for my marriage because my husband is like a social butterfly at social events and some times we don’t go places because of me.
Hypnosis can truly heal any negative beliefs that are getting in your own way of success. Anxiety is something I have dealt with most of my adult life. The ‘smarter’ and more knwledgeable I got on certain subjects, the more my over active mind took over and my heart took a backseat. When we tell ourselves something negative over and over again, our subconscious will believe it and our default mode will be one of fear and unrest. Hypnosis has been one of the greatest tools in my kit to unravel these false conditionings and allow my mind to return to its free state of curiosity, wonder and calm.
I love the visualization aspect of self-hypnosis. It allows me to let my imagination run wild! It can be a very fun, creative process. I think I’m a mix of all of these three: visual, auditorial, and kinesthetic. Maybe more visual than I am auditorial so I really enjoy picturing “future me”. How exciting! It can be difficult to find 15 minutes in the day but once you find a place to sit or lay down, it sets the tone. It’s sort of like applying the “5-minute rule” or I think some people call it the pomodoro method? (where you start a task for 5 minutes and usually at the end of the 5 minutes you still want to work so you can finish what you started). It helps for self-hypnosis!
I always thought it was so interesting that I tend to look OUTSIDE of myself for solutions to social anxiety. I used to depend on alcohol to get rid of my social anxiety. I depended on cigarettes. I depended on my friends and family members. I depended on food. These are not sustainable solutions; they are the opposite actually and can be dangerous if we depend on them too much. What I realized is that I can start looking within myself, looking INSIDE of myself for social anxiety relief. Even in public, in big crowds especially, I will calm my nerves by doing a quick self-hypnosis. I cannot tell you how effective this can be if you really commit to it. I become grounded; I ease my nerves FAST. All good things. Hypnosis is the greatest tool of all time!
I love how this highlights all aspects of hypnotherapy and its many applications. Wonderful, clear explanation and so useful! I have a strong self-hypnosis practice and still cope with social anxiety. Education and training never stops. Thank you for the great information!
As someone who has lived with social anxiety for pretty much her entire life this post hits home. I’ve done a lot of work on myself in the past 10 years or so, working on my mental and physical health, and my self confidence is great which definitely improved my social anxiety, BUT, it is not fully resolved. Like a few other lingering issues I have in the self care department, the solution lies in the subconscious level. I’m so excited to keep exploring all the ways hypnosis can improve who I am as a person!
I love the practice of self-hypnosis daily.
Social anxiety is something I have dealt with for most of my life. Anytime there is an event I’m invited to, I get all excited, can’t wait to go, meet new people, THEN the closer and closer it gets to the day I start feeling anxious. Eventually, I am physically sick and can’t go. I love how you mentioned that self-hypnosis/guided hypnosis can work, but it is not necessarily an overnight success, that it has be done consistently and you will see improvements after each session. This gives me hope.
Social anxiety is very prevalent in our society, especially as people are on social media more and more. Hypnosis can be a great tool to decrease social anxiety.
This is definitely a topic I need to create my own self-hypnosis script on. I have used hypnosis to manage my anxiety but need to up-level that to social anxiety. This article was a great reminder and I think I will make this my new 21 day practice.
I love that this post reminds us that automatic responses to stress don’t have to remain our automatic responses. It’s so empowering to be able to turn inward and find relief. Especially now, this ability to breathe, relax, reprogram and feel better is so important.
I had 4 private sessions on anxiety with one of Grace’s graduate students. I was amazed
at how well she could relax me and put me into a hypnotic trance. When in a hypnotic trance
you don’t even think about anxiety . She always followed up with an email, a suggestion, or
an Atta Girl! Self hypnosis was encouraged everyday. I’m not on the everyday yet, but
enough to know the importance of it and how it calms my monkey mind. What a wonderful
gift!
I have been practicing self hypnosis for a few weeks now but not directly towards Social Anxiety. Honestly I didn’t think this was a thing that affected me as I didn’t explore the symptoms that well. I started with a confidence series that I completed and was working on listening to the last file in the series with the goal of getting to day 21 with it. The new App came out and for some reason I wanted to look into what else was available and Started down the Social anxiety single file. While there is a bunch of nonsense keeping me from putting the results to the test due to a virus right now I have a very noticed improvement from this file over just the first 5 times of listening to it. Quite an amazing feeling being able to go to work and not worry about every ones gaze as it hits me. I really want to try this out for meeting new people as this is something I have struggled with my entire life. seems I suffer from a self full filling prophecy when it comes to those meeting new people situation and I think its was getting worse over time. It may be under control now.
In these complex times where we have to practice the social distance, I wonder if when we come back to normal, we will feel anxiety to meet people in person. If so, GraceSmithTV recordings for relaxation will be priceless!
Such a great break down of how to practice self-hypnosis from the comfort of our own home! It can’t get easier than that. Great post thanks!
Thank you for this helpful article! It gave me the so needed reminder that self-hypnosis works the best through regular practice and as with everything in life, consistency is the key to success. It happened to me that anxiety would get me again whenever I am having long periods of time without doing hypnosis. As soon as I restart my regular practice, everything seems to come back on track !
The idea of tracking your progress stood out to me. If we don’t keep tabs on our feelings, our memories can easily be distorted and misinterpreted by our brains, and either exaggerate or discredit our progress. It is important to measure the results, and to do so, we can’t just take note of the end.
Social anxiety can sometimes feel like such a debilitating condition, but it doesn’t have to be like that. I firmly believe that self-hypnosis is one of the greatest tools that anyone suffering from anxiety/stress/worries can have in their toolbox. I have seen it work time and time again – every single time, in fact – to bring down stress and anxiety levels when I teach this technique to clients. Self-hypnosis can be done anywhere and it literally only takes a couple of minutes. Practice and repetition is key here!
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