Adventures in Hypnotherapy

For 18 years I have been seen counselors, psychologists, psychiatrists and family therapists to "fix" me. Have any of them "fixed" me? Am I well-balanced? Do I have the self-confidence I desire? Well, it's in the eye of the beholder I suppose. My husband also can be the judge over the past 12 years and he can tell you that nothing has given me my self-confidence that I never have fully had. I have one thing left to try in my opinion (besides hiring a full entourage of people to follow me around praising my every move, but I am not a socialite) & that is hypnotherapy. I have used a form of hypnotherapy once before and that was for my pregnancy and birth of my daughter. It helped immensely and gave me the confidence that the labor & birth of that child would not be the nightmare my first child's was. I believe some of that carried on to my last pregnancy & labor also as it was fairly easy also.

So today was my first session with my hypnotherapist & boy, was it the perfect day to go! I was high-strung and stressed to the max when I arrived! My kids were being difficult this morning and so I was an hour later than I usually am to campus in the morning. Not a single photograph from this weekend's shoot turned out correct & I felt as though I wasted that 3 hour lab away. Then I went to another 3 hour digital lab and had to listen to what I considered was worse than nails on a chalkboard, chewing on tinfoil & the rubbing of styrofoam together at high pitched volumes all at once while trying to concentrate on a project. I got no work done. I also did not get a chance to eat until 4:30pm. Yeah. It was one of my more awful days.

The hypnotherapist & I spent some time talking (after I filled out a couple papers, I do live in California after all) and then he asked if he could place me under hypnosis, to which I agreed. I will admit that I was skeptical, but oh my! What a TRIP! At some points I started to drift away and I knew my subconscious was paying attention, not my conscious and then I would start to pull myself out of the hypnosis. I figured this would happen, but I am okay with this! During the hypnosis he did place it in my mind that it would become easier each time I am being hypnotized for me to become and to stay in a state of hypnosis.

I actually feel wonderful now. It's amazing. I don't feel weird or unusual. I don't feel drugged. I feel very relaxed and happy. It's not quite an overwhelming confidence, but I feel a little more confidence. :) Wow. I feel a little better. I have another session in a week. I'll let you know how I sleep tonight.