Stress
Stress Management, Phobias and NLP
Stress Management
Stress in the true sense of the word refers to tension.
Tension is not always negative, it is only potentially harmful when stress levels arise from excessive overload or unbearable tension Stress is the reaction of the autonomic nervous system to an attack whether real or imagined.
The nervous system is designed to protect us by releasing adrenaline to help us overcome the flight or flight response, When the emergency passes the adrenaline is used up in running away or fighting.
However if adrenaline remains in the system this will result in a residual stress level. Experiments have shown that when people are over stressed this can cause major disruptions to their ultradian cycle.
The ultradian cycle, which is operated by the brain, uses a ninety minute activity/rest cycle system. One can observe this in a normal working day starting at 0900, with a break at around 1030, then working until approximately 1200 with further spells of activity and rest break in the afternoon.
A certain level of positive stress is necessary to encourage us to achieve our objectives. On the other hand negative stress prevents us from relaxing.
There are many ways to relax, these include yoga, transcendental meditation and group activities of the human potential kind such as encounter groups and sensitivity training. Relaxation can be beneficial for both the mind and body. Some or all of the following can take place during relaxation.
Slowing of the breathing
Lowering of the heart rate
Relaxing the muscles
Improving the digestion processes
Increasing the of activity of the immune system
Allowing thinking to be less rigid and more abstract
Regular periods of exercise and relaxation are likely to minimise the effects of long term stress.
One of the best ways of relaxing and combating stress is by the use of hypnosis.
Hypnosis also delivers the above benefits and when administrated by a professionally trained and skilled hypnotherapist can be the quickest route to relaxation delivering rest and calm to the mind and body in a matter of seconds.
Phobias
A phobia is not something you are born with, it is something you acquire. It may be a person place or thing.
Normally sufferers recognise that the fear generated by a phobia is irrational and depending on the intensity of the phobia may be avoided. The fear is usually out of all proportion to the actual danger.
There are many different phobias; these can be divided into the following categories:
Natural Environmental
Which are associated with aspects of day to day living such as heights (acrophobia), darkness (lygophobia), loud noises (ligyophobia), growing old (gerontophobia), and many more.
Blood, Injection and Injury Phobias
Some examples are: the receiving a needle injection, the sight of blood, vomiting.
Animal and Insect Phobias
Any type of animal including dogs, cats, spiders, wasps, you name it in the animal world and somewhere someone is suffering.
Situation Phobias
The most well known area; Agoraphobia - the fear of open places. Claustrophobia - the fear of enclosed spaces, other triggers may be lifts, flying, going to school.
Social Phobias
Speaking in public, eating in public places or signing in front of people, which is in reality is a fear of negative evaluation in a social environment.
Miscellaneous Phobias
Those that do not fall into any of the above categories like fear of getting ill, clowns. In other words it is possible to develop a phobia towards any person, place or thing.
How do we acquire phobias
We learn them consciously and unconsciously. We can pick them up from relatives and friends, we may even inherit them.
Phobias have been passed down several generations some people witnessing or experiencing an unusual situation or trauma, which was physical or emotionally painful, and could have been fatal, may be left with a phobia.
Not all traumatic experiences will lead to a phobic condition. It is possible to acquire a phobia by constant and repeated exposure to a mild anxiety by a cumulative build up of fear. The sufferer will then try to avoid the triggering person, place or thing.
When sufferers experience the effects of the phobia that interferes with their emotional, social or work life they can seek the help of a clinical hypnotherapist.
NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming)
NLP is a way of thinking and communicating in and about the world. Developed in the 1970's by John Grinder a professor of Linguistics and Richard Bandler a psychology student. They chose three eminent therapists for an in depth study, these were
Fritz Perls an innovative psychologist and originator of the Gestalt School Victoria Satir an outstanding family therapist and Milton Erickson a world famous hypnotherapist who had developed advanced techniques in trance and altered states of the consciousness and formulated the Milton model of language.
Grinder and Bandler decided on the very elaborate and impressive title for their "new" ways of looking at psychological data, the title in full reflects a complicated approach
Neuro - refers to the mind with reference to the senses, hearing, smell, taste and touch.
Linguistic refers to the use of language to communicate externally and internally to sort out thoughts and behaviours.
Programming refers to strategies used to organise inner processes to produce results.
Their observations and research resulted in a range of methods and techniques now being applied in tandem within a number of professional fields such as therapy, education, business and the legal world.