Hypnotherapy for Panic Attacks – Case Study
Read Clive’s account of how hypnotherapy helped him. Thanks to Clive for sharing his panic attack hypnotherapy success story.
Clive Johnson – MD of his own business – age 39
* I was very successful in my job. I ran my own company and was normally confident and self assured with no money worries. I had been married for 11 yrs and had one son who was 11yrs old.
Out of the blue I started having panic attacks. I went to my doctor and had a range of tests and everything was normal. He suggested I sought some psychological help.
During my first consultation with Alix I admitted that I was having an affair with my secretary. I hadn’t told anyone else about this. I had married my wife when she got pregnant and the relationship was in trouble. She used to be attractive and was now very frumpy and always nagging and trying to control me.
My secretary who was a lot younger and sexier was also putting pressure on me to leave my wife and be with her. I just did not know what to do. I felt pulled in two different directions. I also felt guilty about the affair but also deep down felt angry at being bullied by two women. My mother also had been very controlling .
Through our sessions I realised that I was repressing my anger and trying to meet the needs of the two women.
With Alix’s help I became more able to communicate my frustrations with my wife and finished the relationship with my secretary who has left and found a new job. I feel so relieved and the panic attacks have disappeared.
Alix’s Comments on Panic Attacks
Panic attacks are a sudden period of intense anxiety accompanied by a state of fear and disorientation. In the case of Clive, his panic attacks occurred as a non- verbal response to the very difficult situation he had created in his life. Clive was being emotionally pulled in two different directions because of his relationship with two women. In spite of his outer success, deep inside he felt out of control and felt unsafe expressing his emotions. He was unable to make up his mind about his situation and felt angry and powerless inside. His panic attacks were an emotional release for him.
During our sessions hypnotherapy was used to discover what was causing his panic attacks. During this process he was able to talk about how his mother had been very controlling when he was a child. His response to her had been to deny his feelings and do everything to try to please her. Now later in life, he had created a situation where he was trying to please two women and still not expressing what he really felt.
Hypnotherapy helped Clive to make connections with his upbringing and past conditioning. He was able to identify for the first time what was really behind his panic attacks. He became able to articulate his feelings in a more honest way to the women in his life. Creative visualisation helped Clive to discover a new course of action. He once again felt back in control of his emotions and the panic attacks stopped occurring.
Further Reading
Read more about panic attacks here.
Read more about hypnotherapy for panic attacks here.
