PLEASE NOTE: APPOINTMENTS CAN BE HELD FACE TO FACE AT MY OFFICE IN SOUTHSEA OR VIA ZOOM

STUDENTS

I am getting enquiries from more and more University students and teenagers who are experiencing symptoms of anxiety. Life seems to have become more demanding for our young people and what should be a fun and educational time of their lives can easily turn to misery with anxiety typically presenting as exam anxiety, performance anxiety, general anxiety, social anxiety, and fear of making important decisions about the future. Younger students can also struggle with isolation from friendship groups and the increasing pressures from social media.

Mild anxiety is quite normal. It helps give us the push to prepare for interviews, study for exams and keeps us safe whilst trying new activities or indeed if we are in a dangerous environment. We feel a bit anxious for a while and then once any threat or new situation is over, the anxiety fades away. When anxiety doesn’t come and go but starts to escalate and become an everyday occurrence, it can start to affect us physically as well as mentally. We can feel tired, overwhelmed, angry and frustrated and we often start to feel anxious about being anxious. Anxiety like this may have just crept up on you or it might have started with an event (which you may or not be aware of).

The good news is that the techniques I use will give you the ability to stop irrational anxiety in its tracks and also give you self help strategies which you can practise at home to relieve unnecessary anxiety if it becomes troublesome.

During the first session we explore your anxiety – your thoughts, your feelings, the unwelcome sensations you might be experiencing, and how these are affecting your life. We will also discuss your goals – what you want to achieve from our sessions together. I will talk to you about how the conscious and the subconscious interweave and how you can use the power of your own mind to achieve the results you want. We will do some hypnosis if you are comfortable with it – and I teach you some techniques which you can begin to practise and use yourself.

How many sessions you will need depends on you. Some of my students only need one session and a couple of self help techniques whereas others benefit from two or three sessions. Therapy of any kind is subjective and everyone will experience hypnosis in different ways. Hypnosis is perfectly safe and it’s collaborative – we work together to help you change those intrusive thoughts, unwelcome feelings and any irrational anxiety into something more positive. My clients who really engage with the techniques and spend some time practising between appointments benefit enormously from our sessions together.

Just imagine how it would be if you could make those important decisions, take tests and exams calmly, make presentations confidently and start socialising and managing friendship conflicts more appropriately.

If you are under 18 I will need the permission of a parent or guardian before we can work together.