Confidence Issues

Confidence Issues

Confidence is often said to be having a belief in ourselves, our talents, abilities and personal strengths. We may have qualifications, a job or successful business, a romantic partner or any other typical trapping which may lead to our describing ourselves as successful. But that doesn’t necessarily mean we are confident people. Those who may outwardly appear very confident are often as likely to seek help with confidence issues as those who may appear otherwise.

Confidence allows us to achieve our potential when we are not thinking negatively about ourselves. In other words, confidence is our natural state when we do not have self-limiting thoughts or beliefs in the way of our living the life we want to. A negative belief can create a cycle of negative thinking, which may mean we refrain from taking part in every day activities. This we can interpret as having a lack of confidence.

Lacking confidence, or thinking negatively of ourselves, can affect our relationships with others and it can prevent our developing to our fullest potential. If we lack confidence we may feel the need to apologise inappropriately or seek reassurance from others. We may only focus on perceived criticism and ignore praise. We may be perfectionists and consequently not allow ourselves to take pleasure in our successes, however big or small they may be. These behaviours can be debilitating and affect our enjoyment of life.

How hypnotherapy can help

Reducing our anxiety is the first stage in regaining control of our lives. When we regain control we approach life less from the parameters of the emotional mind and more from the perspective of the intellectual mind. Hypnotherapy can help us become more confident by helping us to identify our strengths and focus on what we can do, rather than what we believe we can not.

By using solution focused techniques we are able to visualise what it would be like to be more confident and what that actually means for us. We start with small steps to broaden our comfort zone, gradually building on successes so that we are better able to engage in any situation, free from self-doubt and able to enjoy life to the full.