Summer stress - surely not?
Summer, what do you think of? Long hot lazy days? The feel of the sand between your toes? The gentle lapping of waves?
It’s more like stressing about what to do with kids who are home for six to eight weeks. Exam re-sits, leaving university and looking for a job.
Breaking the bank to have a family holiday and give everyone a great time – just as you’ve cleared your credit card from Christmas.
But just like Christmas, there’s no guarantee everyone will get along together on holiday. For example, married couples are together a lot more during the holidays than during the regular working week. Spending time with a spouse can make you realise you are unhappy in a relationship.
Simple things can also add to stress levels. Just moving about feels harder. Sweaty underground. Traffic jams. Train delays. Flight delays.
Let’s not forget it’s also a time when we become self-conscious. As the temperature climbs and the layers of clothing fall away, a lot of people feel awkward about their bodies. Feeling embarrassed in shorts or a bikini can make you uncomfortable, not to mention hot. Since so many summertime gatherings revolve around beaches and pools, you might start avoiding social situations out of embarrassment.
Summer stress - The first thing to do: don't beat yourself up
One thing that’s hard about stress in summer is that you feel so out of step.
Everyone else seems to be having such a great time. You aren’t. You start to ask yourself, “what’s wrong with me?”
Let’s cool things down.
Looking at your Cognitive Behaviour and Hypnotherapy
What you need to do is stop assuming that you’re supposed to be happy just because the calendar says it’s summer.
Instead, concentrate on what’s triggering your stress and how you can overcome it.
And as a Cognitive Behavioural Hypnotherapist, this is the starting point of our sessions together. This is called your cognitive behaviour: how you’re thinking, feeling and acting throughout the summer months.
From now on we can look at developing new thoughts, feelings and actions that take away the stress you’re experiencing.
How will hypnotherapy help?
Hypnotherapy helps you ‘hardwire’ new habits that lower your stress and help you enjoy life more.
All that happens during hypnosis is that you learn to focus. That’s the ‘hypno’ bit. And the ‘therapy’ bit is what we’re treating. In this case reducing the stress you’re feeling.
How well will hypnotherapy work?
Really it’s not will it work, but how well.
The key thing is called the working alliance.
It’s how you, the client, and me, the hypnotherapist, form a bond.
Our commitment to each other to make a real lasting positive difference.
With this in place, we could be having a cool relaxing summer.
