Easing Test Anxiety

 

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Test Anxiety is often ameliorated with a session of Suggestion Hypnotherapy, followed by instruction in self-hypnosis and the use of a relaxation recording augmented with confidence-building affirmations. Test anxiety may be due to procrastination, peer or parental pressure and other factors that may require Regression and/or Parts Therapy for complete resolution. Suggestion Hypnotherapy may also be augmented in this case by Age Progression in which the individual sees himself or herself taking the test with ease and/or experiences the future celebration of passing the test as though it were already present.
 

About Suggestion Hypnotherapy

Most Personal (and Transpersonal) Hypnotherapy services involve the use of suggestions. Suggestions are geared to transforming old beliefs into new, more beneficial beliefs about oneself and the world. When given during a hypnotic trance as the main focus of the hypnosis or after other kinds of therapeutic hypnotic work, positive suggestions are very likely to take hold in the subconscious. They are much more beneficial, however, after they are repeatedly installed by the hypnotherapist over a number a sessions and/or by the client, herself, in self-hypnosis. 

What further enhances this process is the client’s receiving the suggestions when he or she is in hypnotically-induced Sacred Space. While in hypnosis, the client is invited to step into a space that is calm, comforting and secure. He or she is asked to enter the scene with all five senses open to the environment to vivify the experience. Then he or she may be asked to form aspects of the space conducive to the accomplishment of various tasks, including, for instance, managing pain and receiving suggestions. For the latter task, the client may image finding a place to lie down and further relax before hearing the suggestions. The client may also be told a story or extended metaphor that depicts the desired outcome. Later the client might image himself watching on a screen a movie showing his or her acting according to the suggestions. While in hypnosis, the client may also be asked to repeat aloud the suggestions being given to her or him. After the hypnosis session, the client will find that taking actions like those in the movie will make the Suggestion Hypnotherapy the most effective it can be.

Sometimes, when suggestions are the main focus of the hypnosis, they are not as effective as they might otherwise be because the old belief system is deeply entrenched. Such may be the case when the origin of the old belief system is deeply unconscious and/or when there are “payoffs” for maintaining that belief system, however painful its other results may be. In such a situation, Regression or some other hypnotic work may have to take place first. 

The hypnotherapist may create the suggestions according to what emerges during discussions with the client and/or during the beginning and middle of hypnosis sessions that use other processes. Quite often, the hypnotherapist will invite the client to create his or her own suggestion script with help from certain guidelines. This script may also be recorded on audio tape or on a CD (with or without soothing music) for use by the client during self-hypnosis at home. 

In areas like the one above, suggestion hypnotherapy alone might prove beneficial, especially if the problem to be overcome is more of a habit than an entrenched belief system. In the latter case, Regression or other hypnotic services may be in order.