Hypno-psychotherapy
and confidence problems
Self-confidence is an attitude which
allows individuals to have positive yet realistic views of themselves and their
situations. Self-confident people trust their own abilities, have a general
sense of control in their lives, and believe that, within reason, they will be
able to do what they wish, plan, and expect.
Having self-confidence does not mean
that individuals will be able to do everything. Self-confident people have
expectations that are realistic. Even when some of their expectations are not
met, they continue to be positive and to accept themselves.
People who are not self-confident often
depend excessively on the approval of others in order to feel good about
themselves. They tend to avoid taking risks because they fear failure. They
generally do not expect to be successful. They often put themselves down and
tend to discount or ignore compliments paid to them. By contrast, self-confident
people are willing to risk the disapproval of others because they generally
trust their own abilities. They tend to accept themselves; they don't feel they
have to conform in order to be accepted.
Self-confidence is not necessarily a
general characteristic which pervades all aspects of a person's life.
Typically, individuals will have some areas of their lives where they feel
quite confident, e.g.,academics, athletics, while at the same time they do not
feel at all confident in other areas, e.g., personal appearance, social
relationships, or speaking in public
Surprisingly, lack of self-confidence is
not necessarily related to lack of ability. Instead it is often the result of
focusing too much on the unrealistic expectations or standards of others.
Hypnotherapy and cognitive behavioural
therapy combine to provide an extremely powerful approach to the treatment of
confidence issues, in that hypnosis helps the client to ´éxperience´ anxiety
provoking situations without fear, and the cognitive behavioural work helps us
to examine and adjust our perceptions of self and to increase feelings of self
worth.