Searching for Perfection Assures Failure
Using hypnotherapy to relieve exam nerves can have unusual results. For example, 22-year-old David was making himself physically sick with worry over an up coming veterinary examination.
He believed that if he did not succeed in the exam his future would be ruined. He had to succeed, if not he could not enter into a career of his chosen field as a veterinary surgeon.
Experiencing physical symptoms of upset stomach, land headaches caused by lack of sleep, David was harnessing depressing thoughts of failure, both in his exam and his whole life. Only a top grade would be acceptable.
It is clear that David had set himself up for a drastic failure because people who feel they must reach a state of perfection guarantee themselves disappointment and failure because well hold imperfections.
David had not consciously sought out the therapist to change his attitude to failure. he requested hypnotherapy as a means of support through this difficult time of his up coming exam.
Positive Hypnotic Suggestions
Utilizing imagery and positive suggestions from the hypnotherapist David imagined:
* himself studying positively
* recalling all the necessary information during the exam,
* resulting in gaining a first class honors in veterinary surgery.
With David's co-operation the hypnotherapist reinforced what he already knew about himself: that he was highly intelligent and very capable of succeeding in his field. The session was enjoyable for him and left him feeling calm, relaxed and optimistic. Days later, David took the exam and failed.
Hypnotherapy Can Help To Change Attitudes
But the good news being is that the hypnotherapy had released him from his catastrophic thinking.
So he didn't pass. He did his best, he felt good about himself, and that is what is most important. So what if he didn't go into veterinary practice He could find something else as a career, and it felt so good to him be able to accept that it is O.K. not to receive an A.
Some people are not as optimistic as David. They would only be satisfied if hypnotherapy had helped them to pass the exam they dreaded. Just like Michael. He had failed his physics exam twice but was determined to pass it. Unlike David, Michael wanted to understand why he had failed.
Uncovering the Cause of Fear Using Hypnoanalysis
The hypnotherapist used a technique called hypnoanalysis. This technique pinpoints the origin of a fear while the client is in hypnosis. The method used with Michael was to just to relax him into hypnosis to bring on feeling the fear. Once Michael indicated that he was re-experiencing the fear the hypnotherapist counts rapidly to three after saying "allow the feeling fear to increase stronger and stronger as I count to three"
The next instruction following the word "three" - was to "go to the first time you felt that fear."
Following this instruction Michael recalled an incident when he was eight years old and his teacher had harshly scolded him for for his poor result in a spelling exam in school. The teacher made fun of Michael in front of his fellow classmates.
Healing Mixed Emotions with Hypnotherapy
During the hypnoanalysis it became perfectly clear that Michael's fear of exams stemmed from repeated terror during his school days that he could never please his teacher. Even more significant was Michael's reluctance as an adult to out class his teacher. Below his level of conscious awareness Michael harboured anger at his teacher for the humiliation that was inflicted upon him as a child, this anger was unacknowledged because it aroused more guilt in him that he could handle.
The childhood incidents (which there were many) and the mixed emotions of the adult Michael (he as well being angry with his teacher, he admired him as well) were dealt with in hypnotherapy.
The hypnotherapist then turned Michaels focus on the exams. When asked what grade he wanted to achieve Michael thought and stated that "65% would be a good result."
Imaginative Use of Hypnosis for Success
"All this is in your imagination, Michael, " the hypnotherapist said, "so why wouldn't you go for 80% or even 90%?
Michael aimed for 95%. The hypnotherapist relaxed Michael into hypnosis then made positive suggestions that he would achieve this result, some of the suggestion being:
* understanding what he was studying,
* absorb the information, and
* be able to easily recall it.
The hypnotherapist in addition encouraged Michael to imagine himself receiving his physics degree, working in a prestigious laboratory and being successful in his chosen field.
The secret to success in using hypnotherapy to relieve nerves about taking exams is to be relaxed both while preparing for and actually taking the exam.
One of the ways to be relaxed that Michael learned from the hypnotherapist, is to be unconcerned about the outcome. This paradox served Michael's needs well as he went on to achieve 98% pass.
He enjoyed the hypnotherapy sessions and learned how to utilise hypnotherapy to relieve his exam nerves.
(Article by Ray Ronson)
For more information regarding Exam Anxiety/Nerves or Hypnotherapy in the South Wales UK area visit: http://www.hypnotist.uk.com/ For training in Hypnotherapy, Hypnoanalysis and Hypnotic Techniques visit: http://www.elestialtraining.co.uk/
No comments:
Post a Comment