What Is Emotional Regulation?
Emotional regulation is the ability to manage your emotional responses. We often cannot control the things that life throws our way, but we can learn to control our response. A person who is able to take charge of their emotions instead of allowing their emotions to take over is practicing emotional regulation.
What It Means to Self-regulate Your Emotions
It does not mean you are avoiding negative emotions or negative feelings. You’re simply noticing and monitoring your feelings so you’re able to adjust and respond effectively in different situations. Essentially, emotional self-regulation allows you to keep your emotions in check.
Understanding Our Emotions
Emotions are normal and everyone experiences them. Sometimes, particularly when we have had persistent distressing experiences during our lives, we can emotionally react more often to situations (that others may not find distressing) where we feel threatened.
The distress can be very intense and it’s difficult to manage ourselves and situations when things are feeling so overwhelming.
Learning Emotion Regulation skills will help us learn to effectively manage and change the way we feel and cope with situations.
Emotions, thoughts and what we do or feel an urge to do (behaviours) are all linked and become vicious cycles. Changing one part of the cycle will help improve the situation and help you feel better.
Why Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) & Hypnotherapy Are Most Effective When Used Together
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and hypnotherapy are both effective treatments for a variety of mental health conditions, including anxiety disorders, depression, emotional regulation, and phobias. When used together, CBT and hypnotherapy can enhance the effectiveness of each other and lead to better treatment outcomes.
Hypnotherapy involves inducing a state of focused attention and relaxation in the client, allowing them to access their subconscious mind and explore their thoughts and feelings in a deeper way. CBT, on the other hand, is a more structured approach that focuses on identifying and changing negative thought patterns and behaviors.
When used together, hypnotherapy can help clients access their subconscious mind and explore the underlying emotions and beliefs that may be contributing to their negative thought patterns and behaviors. This can help them gain a deeper understanding of their issues and develop more effective coping strategies.
CBT can then be used to help clients challenge and change their negative thought patterns and behaviors based on the insights gained from hypnotherapy. The combination of these two therapies can lead to more profound and long-lasting changes, as clients are able to address both the conscious and subconscious aspects of their mental health issues.
Overall, the combination of CBT and hypnotherapy can be a powerful tool for addressing a wide range of mental health conditions and improving overall well-being. However, it’s essential to work with a qualified and experienced therapist who can tailor the treatment approach to your individual needs and preferences.
How Does Hypnotherapy Help Improve Emotional Regulation?
Hypno-psychotherapy is an integrative form of therapy that combines elements of hypnotherapy and psychotherapy to address emotional, psychological, and behavioral issues. It can be effective in helping individuals regulate their emotions in the following ways:
- Accessing the subconscious mind: Hypno-psychotherapy can help clients access their subconscious mind, where emotions and beliefs are often stored. By doing so, individuals can gain insight into the root causes of their emotional reactions and develop new ways of processing and regulating their emotions.
- Developing coping strategies: Hypno-psychotherapy can help clients develop coping strategies for managing their emotions. Through hypnosis, clients can learn new ways of thinking and behaving that can help them regulate their emotions and cope with challenging situations.
- Addressing underlying issues: Hypno-psychotherapy can help clients address underlying psychological issues that may be contributing to their emotional dysregulation. This can include unresolved trauma, negative self-talk, or limiting beliefs.
- Relaxation and stress reduction: Hypno-psychotherapy can induce a state of deep relaxation, which can help reduce stress and anxiety. This can, in turn, improve emotional regulation by reducing the intensity of emotional reactions.
- Self-awareness and mindfulness: Hypno-psychotherapy can help individuals develop self-awareness and mindfulness, which are key components of emotional regulation. By becoming more aware of their thoughts, feelings, and behaviors, individuals can learn to identify and regulate their emotional responses.
Overall, hypno-psychotherapy can be a useful tool for individuals who struggle with emotional regulation. It can help individuals develop new coping strategies, address underlying issues, reduce stress and anxiety, and cultivate self-awareness and mindfulness, all of which can contribute to improved emotional regulation.
Benefits of Hypnotherapy For Client’s Who Want To Achieve Emotional Regulation
Hypno-psychotherapy can be a helpful tool for emotional regulation, as it combines the principles of both hypnotherapy and psychotherapy to address and resolve emotional difficulties. Here are some of the main benefits of hypno-psychotherapy for emotional regulation:
1. Promoting self-awareness: One of the primary goals of hypno-psychotherapy is to help clients become more self-aware of their thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. By becoming more self-aware, clients s can better understand the underlying causes of their emotional difficulties, which can help them regulate their emotions more effectively.
2. Identifying and addressing negative thought patterns: Hypno-psychotherapy can help clients identify negative thought patterns that may be contributing to emotional dysregulation, such as self-doubt, self-criticism, or negative self-talk. By addressing these negative thought patterns, clients can learn to regulate their emotions more effectively.
3. Developing coping strategies: Hypno-psychotherapy can help individuals develop coping strategies to manage difficult emotions, such as stress, anxiety, and depression. This can include relaxation techniques, visualization, and other strategies that can help clients feel more in control of their emotions.
4. Resolving past traumas: Hypno-psychotherapy can help individuals address and resolve past traumas, which can often contribute to emotional dysregulation. By processing and resolving past traumas, individuals can experience greater emotional stability and resilience.
5. Enhancing self-esteem: Hypno-psychotherapy can also help clients develop greater self-esteem and self-confidence, which can contribute to emotional regulation. By developing a more positive self-image and a greater sense of self-worth, clients can better cope with difficult emotions.
Overall, hypno-psychotherapy is be an effective tool for emotional regulation, as it helps clients become more self-aware, develop coping strategies, and address underlying psychological issues that may be contributing to emotional difficulties. It is important to note that hypno-psychotherapy should only be administered by a licensed and trained therapist.
Therapy for Emotional Regulation
Sessions are offered in-person for those living in Adelaide or Online if preferred. Therapy includes enhanced Cognitive Behavioural Therapy eCBT, Psychotherapy and Hypnotherapy helping important messages hit home within the subconscious mind, allowing for positive shifts to take place.
Book A Consultation Today
Sessions are available In-person for Adelaide residents (Payneham, SA) or Online for interstate or international clients.
Please note that every booking will receive a video call link for your convenience, in the event either of us are required to self isolate due to Covid related incidents.
About CBT, Psychotherapy & Hypnotherapy
What is Cognitive Behavioural Therapy CBT?
CBT is based on the concept that your thoughts, feelings, physical sensations and actions are interconnected, and that negative thoughts and feelings can trap you in a vicious cycle.
CBT aims to help you deal with overwhelming problems in a more positive way by breaking them down into smaller parts.
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy CBT typically includes these steps:
- Identify troubling situations or conditions in your life. …
- Become aware of your thoughts, emotions and beliefs about these problems. …
- Identify negative or inaccurate thinking. …
- Reshape negative or inaccurate thinking.
The problem with using Cognitive Behavioural Therapy as a single therapy is that our thoughts and emotional responses to troubling situations are stored within our subconscious mind. This means that we need to access the subconscious mind in order to effect any significant changes to subconscious programming. And it is for this reason that CBT is only one part of the solution.
So how do we gain access to the subconscious mind? This is where hypnosis comes in.
What is Hypnotherapy and how does it work?
Hypnotherapy or hypnosis uses guided relaxation, concentration, and focused attention to achieve a heightened state of awareness that is sometimes called a trance state.
Hypnotherapy is not mind control, nor is it a zombie-like state; contrary to how it might appear in the movies and stage hypnosis. In fact, it is just the opposite; you are more in control of your mind by activating your choice to set aside the judgments and sensory reactions of the conscious mind and enter a deeper state of concentration and receptiveness.
It is important to mention that you are in-control, can hear everything that is being suggested AND can bring yourself out of hypnosis at anytime.
For Hypnotherapy to work effectively, your own self-will and eagerness to allow yourself to enter into a comforting state of receptivity with the intention of allowing positive changes to occur in your subconscious mind is essential.
Hypnosis is a state you are guided by your therapist to create for yourself. When you are in the receptive state of hypnosis new suggestions are offered to your subconscious mind. It is important to remember, that these new suggestions should be created collaboratively between you and your therapist.
As it is one of the primary roles of the subconscious mind to protect you, this means that only beneficial suggestions will be accepted. It is comforting to know that we all have this inbuilt safety mechanism within us.
What is Psychotherapy and how does it work?
Psychotherapy recognises the lasting impact of past events that were traumatic for you on some level. The focus of psychotherapy is on compassion, listening and understanding rather than making a diagnosis.
Psychotherapy can be a powerful, life-changing experience which can help you overcome social or emotional challenges, and fulfil your potential.
A well trained psychotherapist can support you to:
- Express your feelings and process them in a safe and supportive relationship.
- Gain deeper insight into the issues you face.
- Talk about things in a confidential environment that you might not feel be able to discuss with anyone else.
- Find better ways to cope with feelings and fears.
- Assist you to make positive changes in the way you think and behave that will improve your mental and emotional wellbeing.
- Improve relationships in your life, including with yourself.
- Make sense of any clinical diagnoses you have had by understanding what has happened to you.
- Heal from trauma.
- Learn to communicate better and tolerate differences in yourself and others.
Psychotherapy can help you with:
- Anxiety and panic attacks.
- Feelings of overwhelm like you can’t cope.
- Dealing with stress or recovering from stressful situations.
- Lack of confidence low self-esteem and lack of self-worth.
- Coping with the effects of abuse, trauma and PTSD.
- Depression and sadness, loneliness, regret, grief or emptiness.
- Anger management and extreme mood swings.
- Difficulty making or sustaining relationships, or repeatedly becoming involved in unsatisfying or destructive relationships.
- Sexual problems.
- Difficulties coming to terms with losses such as bereavement, divorce, unemployment or feeling a lack of purpose or direction in life.
- Eating disorders such as anorexia, bulimia or binge eating.
- Self-harm behaviours such as cutting, burning, biting or scratching the skin, pulling out hair, hitting oneself, or repeatedly putting oneself in dangerous situations.
- Obsessive and compulsive behaviour OCD
- Fears and phobias such as:
- Acrophobia: fear of heights.
- Pteromerhanophobia: fear of flying.
Claustrophobia: fear of enclosed spaces. - Entomophobia: fear of insects.
- Ophidiophobia: fear of snakes.
- Cynophobia: fear of dogs.
- Astraphobia: fear of storms.
- Trypanophobia: fear of needles.