A new client has just told me he is suffering severe panic and anxiety. Before our first visit, he emailed several times to let me know about his condition and troubles he was undergoing.

He had been to a psychiatrist and a medical doctor. They prescribed drugs. The medication made him worse. Elaborately, he explained the physical effects.

One lengthy email contained a hugely detailed breakdown of his life and his ailments. Tough childhood. His parents mollycoddled their only child. As Holocaust survivors, they were negative about everything, he said, and they constantly put him down without realizing it.

Their son was riddled with physical complaints. Now the anxiety was new. It was so serious he was unable to work. Thankfully he has a tolerant boss. In the technology field, he can work from home, avoiding an office where he is prone to panic and anxiety. He was growing desperate because his supervisor only was going to be tolerant for a limited period.

At our first visit, we quickly reviewed his gigantic email. He was damaging himself by constantly writing about his issues. Each effort reinforced the negatives causing his anxiety.

After one session, he called the next day to ask whether I thought that he could go back to work within the next two to three weeks. He also wondered how many sessions we would need. It is entirely up to you, I said.

Finger Is Pointing at You

In every case I turned the answer back at him. As a hypnotist, I could help rid him of his panic and anxiety. Ultimately, though, he must do it himself. If he followed the suggestions without thinking too much about them, he would have a successful hypnotic experience. 

I gave him the tools, a diet low in carbohydrates to ensure stable blood sugar levels and Box Breathing to help him in case of an attack. Box Breathing helps ensure adequate oxygen and carbon dioxide levels that reduce an attack. The tendency is to breathe rapidly. That compounds the attack because it increases the heart rate and creates  tingling rooted in hyperventilating. Box Breathing eliminates hyperventilation and gives the sufferer something other than the panic attack to focus on. Attacks ebb slowly.

He telephoned several times between his first and second sessions with questions. Was I sure hypnotherapy would help – that was a recurring theme. was going to help him. I told him constantly talking about his negatives was wrong. He continually focused on the results of the panic and anxiety rather than on the person he wanted to be.

He needed to change his thinking from “have to” to “want to.” “Have t” is a chore word. Want to is a desire. When he said “can’t,” he was placing responsibility on someone else. “Can’t” was another way of saying “won’t.” He understood immediately. “Won’t” made him realize his condition stemmed from the way he was raised the100 percent onus was on him to change.

He realized that the image he wanted for himself. By visualizing only the positives and by following the diet offered to him, he changed fairly rapidly.

Soon he was back at work, happy and successful.

Do not hesitate to contact me by telephone, 310.204.3321, or by email at nickpollak@hypnotherapy4you.net. See my website at www.hypnotherapy4you.net