It is no secret that I suffer from anxiety and depression, so back in 2018 I reached out to a local hypnotherapist who also specialised in CBT (cognitive behavioral therapy) to get some extra support. Here is how I found it.
There are plenty of ways to have therapy these days, including going to visit a therapist or having online therapy. Online therapy jobs might be ideal for trained therapists, as they can work from anywhere, earning between $15-$25 per hour. It is easy to make a full time income as an online therapist, and you can award yourself more flexibility when it comes to seeing patients.
My own therapy journey
The first thing to mention is that I chose to have therapy privately. Previously I had self-referred to the NHS CBT, but I felt as though I was on a conveyor belt, and only had 12 sessions allocated. Through privately funding my therapy I felt that I had more control and could take things at my own pace. I had the flexibility to have more sessions or less sessions depending on how I was feeling as well as my other commitments.
I had a free consultation before deciding to proceed, and arranged to have weekly therapy sessions.
Overall I visited my therapist for a year before we decided to take a break, and that was about 3 months ago now.
How therapy helped me
I originally went for therapy to help me with my anxiety with being a passenger in a car.
I would be terrified, screaming out in fear, heart racing and having panic attacks.
What therapy did for me was a whole lot more than just looking at this issue.
Through hypnotherapy we found some past childhood trauma that I hadn’t remembered, and started to work on the healing process following that.
With the CBT side of therapy I was able to come up with lots of techniques to help me to manage my emotions and manage events that would normally trigger me.
Worry time
Worry time is one of the most powerful tools I learned from therapy.
Instead of letting my mind dwell on something, over and over, sometimes stopping me from falling asleep, I would tell myself to stop thinking about it and that I would worry about it at a set time in the future.
Worry time helps me to sleep better and to stop dwelling over things.
‘What evidence do I have?’
When negative thoughts crop up, or someone says something upsetting, I ask myself this question:
What evidence do I have?
For example, if I start to think that I am lazy or I get a comment calling me lazy, I try to think about what evidence I have about that.
I usually find evidence about the opposite. For example, I have built up a successful business that means my husband and I don’t have to go out and do traditional jobs. I spend a lot of time working, even if it feels as though I am just on my phone, or enjoying myself.
What would you say to a friend?
The is another powerful tool that I have learned from therapy.
When trying to make a decision, think about what you would say to a friend.
Chances are that you won’t be as harsh as you are being on yourself. Sometimes if you remove yourself from the question you can easily see what the solution is.
Overall I have really enjoyed seeing my progress from therapy, and I have found it incredibly useful.
