Can hypnosis help those with social anxiety? Well, the science certainly seems to be in favor of its efficacy. Now, many people think that social anxiety is just another word for shyness. Well, let us assure you that that’s not the case—social anxiety is much more than that.

Affecting around 15 million American adults, it’s a medically recognized mental health condition that’s characterized by a perpetual fear of social situations. Symptoms of social anxiety typically appear during the early years of adolescence and then persist into older age, with some requiring treatment.

Social Anxiety: The Complications

Individuals who suffer from social anxiety often have conflicting feelings when it comes to interacting with others. Although they’re completely aware of their inherent need of social contact, they avoid others due to fear of humiliation or embarrassment. This leads them to shy away from behaviors that are considered normal. These include:

• Initiating conversations
• Conversing on the phone
• Meeting strangers
• Working
• Shopping

Individuals who have social anxiety are also prone to feeling insecure and having low self-esteem, which often leads to them quitting their jobs, experiencing marriage/relationship breakdowns, and ceasing to interact with friends and loved ones. Other complications can include being incapable of relaxing that leads to alcohol and/or drug abuse or other negative coping behaviors.

Hypnosis For Social Anxiety

So, can hypnosis help those with social anxiety? Well, before we answer this question, let’s take a look at how hypnosis works.

Hypnosis, essentially, is a deeply absorbed, highly-focused state of attention in which a hypnotherapist will help you become focused and relaxed, thereby negating distracting feelings and thoughts, while encouraging you to be more receptive to new perspectives or ideas. The process can allow you to learn new relaxation strategies and social skills and effortlessly integrate them into your behavior.

For those with social anxiety, social situations are the events that trigger fear and other negative social responses. Hypnosis can help subside the feelings of fear to levels that can be easily managed. A common method used to achieve this is “systematic desensitization”, in which the subject is slowly exposed to fearful situations. The objective is to make these situations normal in real life.

If you want to treat your subconscious anxiety and are looking for ways to calm an anxious mind, it might be time to give hypnotherapy for social anxiety a try. Rekha Shrivastava works on building self-esteem among her clients, connecting them with their inner selves. Book your free consultation today at our office in Pittsford or avail our online sessions via Skype.