Case 6: It’s a shame to do business
A young man arrived from the Northern capital. Due to the type of activity, the patient has to communicate with customers: if previously it was possible to limit himself to telephone conversations, then as the business expands, meetings must be held in person. Accordingly, children's complexes appear.
- It is worth emphasizing that the treatment strategy for social phobia resembles the principle of “divide and conquer”: we identify key phobias and work through each one in order of intensity. For example, the client had a terrible fear of heights, which, by the way, became one of the obvious test results a month after the hypnosis sessions.
- Treatment of phobias comes down to a conscious search for an associative connection of a particular symptom with a traumatic event of the past. Hypnotherapy techniques erase and “demagnetize” a conditioned reflex, which in many cases acts as a hypnotic suggestion.
A couple of months later I received a positive review: “I had hypnotherapy with Gennady. What happened: fear of “cold” calls + fear of heights. Previously, I tried to solve it with the help of emotionally figurative therapy (it gave some results) and Ericksonian hypnosis (zero results). But one “kind” psychologist (not Gennady) reduced all my independent results to nothing.
Came to Gennady. We conducted 4 hypnotherapy sessions for 3 hours. It feels like 10-15 percent of the problem remains - it’s almost invisible. I consider this result simply a miracle, because... I used to eliminate the problem by 30 percent.”
Case 7: pronounced fear of judgment
The girl came from another city. As I learned later, this was the first independent trip for the patient in the last five years. This fact says a lot. The mood for victory, which, in particular, was facilitated by studying materials about hypnosis. No fears - no problems with hypnotizability.
The doctor must destroy all fears, false theories, expose the mental mechanisms that lead to these false ideas. It is necessary to arouse in the patient’s mind the idea of healing.” (psychotherapist I. Bernheim)
- The interview, like the session, was recorded after hypnotherapy (the client was afraid of the camera before the in-depth study, but not after).
- The general rule: if you remove the restrictions of the mind, you can quickly retrain the subconscious.
In-depth study is carried out at two levels: a restructuring of thinking and, at the same time, a change in emotional reactions.
During the journey into the past, emotionally significant events are revealed. With the help of hypnosis, like using a magnifying glass, it is possible to find an incident where the patient picked up chronic resentment, fear or anger - the feeling that gave rise to the interfering type of behavior. It is necessary to get to the psychological trauma in order to force the person to relive everything again and return to life as a different person.
“Miracles” of healing are only apparent. There is nothing but work, so it’s nice to receive flattering reviews as a reward: “Good evening, Gennady. I would like to say a few words about my condition after hypnotherapy. I feel good. I notice how easier and simpler it is to express myself with people, especially strangers. It also became easier to accept different situations without feeling guilty that I did or said something wrong. Overall it has become much easier and simpler. It’s as if I internally accepted myself, and that makes me very comfortable.”
Body map of fears
One of the basic laws of body-oriented psychotherapy says:
“The body remembers everything.”
Memories of everything that happened to us are stored in our body, including our feelings. The body can be compared to an attic, into which everything that you don’t want to see in the house itself is sent. And how the housewife shouts: “I don’t want to see this junk here, take it to the attic!” - this is how all those feelings settle in our body that our consciousness does not want to see in itself, that is, to recognize. In psychology, this mechanism is called repression: painful experiences, thoughts, memories are repressed into the unconscious... Including, of course, fears. But just as a chair will not disappear from the house if it is moved from the living room to the attic, so feelings will not go anywhere if you simply do not pay attention to them. They strive to return to consciousness, to remind themselves - and they do this through illness. And most bodily ailments are a consequence of feelings repressed from consciousness.
Wherever the feeling settles in the body, that’s where the painful symptom appears. It’s like a signal from the feeling: “Look at me!” You will be able to create your own personal body map of fears. For this you will need: a white sheet of paper and drawing tools (any except pens and markers). Draw your body - the whole, the whole figure. Artistic abilities do not play a role here! Now listen to your real body. Close your eyes, try to really feel your whole body at once: how does it feel? is he comfortable? warm? Is it tense or relaxed?.. And now, continuing to feel your whole body at the same time, ask yourself: “Where does fear live in my body?” You may need to remember situations when you were afraid. And some parts of the body will attract your attention - as if they are “waving a hand.” Remember them. Now mark these places in the picture - where fear is located in your body. This may be one site or several. The right and left sides of the body may well be different. In addition, fear can be expressed more in some places, less in others - you can display this in the picture using different colors.
Remember that the bodily map of feelings is always individual, there can be no right or wrong options!
- Eyes:
one of the main channels of perception, therefore, when there is an unconscious fear of reality, an unwillingness to see the truth and recognize reality as it is, it settles there. And in many cases, visual impairment is a manifestation of an unconscious position: “I don’t want to see this!” This is an attempt to hide its head in the sand, like an ostrich - and the effectiveness is about the same, but the problems do not disappear...
- Back:
fear of being imperfect, of not living up to expectations. Usually indicates perfectionism. Of course, such a person has a chance to achieve heights - but it is even more likely that he will slow down any of his impulses for fear of making mistakes.
- Shoulders:
symbolize strength as well as responsibility. Therefore, there is a fear of being weak, and also of not being able to cope with responsibility.
- Diaphragm region, including stomach and solar plexus:
Social fears, that is, those associated with social life, have settled here. Embarrassment, shyness, timidity, bashfulness are manifestations of our social fears of “not conforming”, “being rejected by society”...
- Brushes:
signal communication problems, that is, related to communication. The internal attitude here is: “The world as a whole may not be hostile, but people certainly are.” The right hand speaks of the fear of men, the left - of women (in this case, the right and left sides of the drawn figure are determined as if it were a mirror, not a photograph).
- Face:
fear of “losing face.” Such people attach great importance to what people think about them and how they are perceived. They need to be loved, accepted, approved - everything. Because of this, you have to constantly wear masks, and a variety of them - usually their arsenal is large and varied. But it’s easy to lose the real you behind masks. As in the joke: “The chameleon looked in the mirror and wondered what color he should take...”.
- Neck:
fear of expressing, showing your feelings. Such people often have problems with their throat: constant sore throat, sore throat, a feeling of constriction... They speak in a high, thin voice, a little childish, and complain that they cannot sing. This occurs due to constant tension in the neck: as soon as feelings begin to rise in the chest to come out, the neck contracts, keeping everything inside. Outwardly, they may seem insensitive, but inside there is a storm of passions raging - it simply cannot come out.
- Rib cage:
contains the fear of loneliness, the fear of “rejection of me as an individual,” as opposed to the fear of “rejection of me as a member of society.” Deep in the chest sits a feeling of “wrongness”, “unworthiness”, “inferiority”. Belief: “I am bad, therefore I will be rejected by the world.”
- Stomach:
Fear for life lives there, it’s not for nothing that these are words with the same root. Fear settles there in life-threatening situations - it might not be real, just perceived. And although the danger has passed, it is still relevant for the Unconscious - it is constantly on guard, real relaxation and a sense of security become inaccessible.
- Pelvis:
signals fears in the sexual sphere. Having settled there, they can both lead to illness and interfere with healthy orgasmic release: according to research, the majority of women, and in different countries, feign orgasm. And behind such anorgasmia there are, first of all, fears.
- Hands:
they talk about the fear of contacting the world, because on an unconscious level it is perceived as hostile and unaccepting. The world as a whole is scary - and there is no logical explanation or argument for this, it is an emotional feeling. Therefore, people with this attitude prefer to choose professions that require minimal contact with the world: behind a computer monitor.
- Legs:
if fear lives in the legs, this indicates a lack of support in life, stability, an unconscious feeling: “I have no one to lean on,” “I don’t stand firmly on my own two feet.” There is a lack of stability, no confidence - in oneself, the world, the future...
How to save money and nerves
Using common sense is perhaps the very recommendation for social phobias who have not lost hope of getting rid of this illness. Because patients often, having read articles by would-be psychologists, look for a spiritual friend “with an hourly wage” (often from the same forums). We should not look for subtle connoisseurs of human suffering, but rather for those who encourage us to relive the fatal episode, which, of course, is painful and requires strength. In the end, you have enough self-control to get out of the situation with honor, and the other person returns from the trance.
“It’s boiling” or 3 good pieces of advice
- It is advisable to go to a psychiatrist to rule out a diagnosis like ICD-10 F07.0, that is, sociopathy . Psychologists neither know how nor have the right to tackle psychopathy.
- Trust in the method should not exclude trust in the specialist, so you should carefully choose who to turn to.
- A significant criterion that the basis of social phobia is psychotrauma is the fact that the level of stress affects the symptoms : it intensifies, changes, and adds new ones.
In previous articles Hypnotherapy: treatment of phobias and fears and When hypnosis does not help Gennady Ivanov examines in detail 4 more cases from his practice.
How to get rid of a phobia ↑
Having decided to change their own behavior, parents can additionally take advantage of the advice of psychologists on overcoming the fear of punishment in children:
- Game of "Tag" . Playfully threatening the baby, the adult who marks him constantly plays along with the child, admires his dexterity, jokes, and teaches him that punishment is not serious. In this way, the process of reducing the level of fear occurs, the baby feels equal to adults and more relaxed.
- "Blind Man's Bluff" . The adult, playing the role of the grotesque Barmaley, tries to blindly determine the location of the participants in order to punish and deal with them. Then each child also takes on this role. The game helps in overcoming the fear of confined spaces, darkness and punishment.
There are several more active games that can effectively combat this phenomenon in childhood. But every parent must remember the main truth - a child who feels love, warmth and support will never experience feelings of fear. Mistakes made should be a reason for friendly analysis, and not a reason for execution.
How to overcome panic mood as an adult:
- It is necessary to be aware that very often a mistake made is not actually a mistake. How often has an apparent mistake saved a person’s life? The dominant belief should be that the incident will become a stepping stone on the path to success.
- When experiencing fear of punishment, you should not forget that people are punishing you. And only those who have power over you have this right. This is a friend on whom you depend, and a boss at work, and one of the spouses. It is a mistake to try not to make mistakes. It is much more advisable not to become dependent on others. Independence and self-confidence, a developed life position will eliminate the fear of punishment.
- Accept retribution not as punishment, but as help provided free of charge. Look at the situation completely differently: after all, you might not have noticed your own mistake. And since you were punished, it means they are not indifferent to your activities, noticed and provided a chance not to repeat the mistake in the future.
Not in a hurry to start romances? Find out about the real reasons why women are afraid of relationships. Read the article about the fear of the passage of time and ways to overcome it.
How does the fear of looking into a person's eyes arise? Read here.
By accepting punishment as the engine of your progress, you completely eliminate the fear of it. Why be afraid of what helps personal growth? Everything that happens to us in life is the best master class that exists.
