Have you tried Hypnotherapy?

Yeh - it didnt do much for me. I'm not the type, I guess.

My mind kept either doing the monkey-brain thing and rattling from unrelated thought to unrelated thought while she did her soothing talking thing, or returning to weigh every single thing she said carefully. And finding them bizarre.

I kept on tripping about the details: how did we get to a waterfall? What's the last time you saw a waterfall at walking distance from the beach? Or about the strings of cliches that are supposed to make you feel relaxed, but in their banality just put me off - I estimate myself higher than all that. If you're gonna 'soothe' me, you have to come with better than the most cliche of new age postcard images ... "You're walking on a beach ... and you may be surprised, that it is a very beautiful beach ..."; uh no, I was expecting a polluted ocean of oil spills, what?!

<giggles>

I've got a different therapist now ...

I'd be afraid to do that. I don't like anyone messin with my head.

Lol, nimh, I actually bought a hypnotherapy cassete to improve confidence (it was going cheap on Amazon!), and I have to agree that the details did cause a problem. Why are there marble steps leading through the garden, isn't marble more usually found inside stately homes? The ornamental fountain feeds into a stream?? What kinda set up is that?! I suppose I am reckoning that most professional hypnotherapists would be better at setting a relaxing scene, maybe I am wrong, lol!
gezzy, hypnotherapy can't really mess up your mind, I've been reading up on it. Basically it depends on your being able to accept helpful facts more easily when you are deeply relaxed than when you are sitting jittering (perhaps in a car!) You remain in complete control however.
I'll see if anyone has had a good experience before I part with my cash though

Ok, I know what you're talking about now. That stuff wouldn't work on me though since I don't know how to relax enough. Heck, I can't even meditate.

Meditation doesn't really appeal to me, I'm thinking of trying tai chi, apparently it is relaxing. Have you tried it?

No, but I heard it's awsome. That's a very good idea.

I was in a program at university where they tried to figure out if they could teach people things while they were hypnotized (the researcher was looking for alternative techniques for working with children with a variety of learning disabilities). They did this mass effort at self-hypnosis (which is really what it is) with a group of about 500. I was one of the people who could focus really well, relax myself and bring myself into a natural state of hypnosis, so went into the study group. The results at that time were found to be non-conclusive other than some obvious stuff - i.e. if you can focus well, you can teach yourself to relax. The efforts to teach specific lesson plans weren't too successful.

It's nothing to be afraid of, gezzy, because you really are in charge the whole time. I can still recall bits of it, close to 25 years later.

Beth
I see. I first thought it was other people hypnotizing you, but I get what you're saying now.

I think that if you decide to go in for hypnotherapy, it is very important that you know the hypnotist's credentials, and possibly get some feedback from former clients.

I once had a very disturbing experience with a so called "friend" who had suggested that he hypnotize me for a problem that I had been having. He was really attempting to seduce me. During the session my fists clenched, and the skin around my mouth became numb. It was very frightening, but I was able to pull myself out of the trance.

<fast forward, about seven years> I was in graduate school, and there was a professor who was lecturing about the uses of hypnotism in dealing with psychological problems. He asked a student to volunteer to be hypnotized. I was watching it. As he was working with the student in inducing the trance, guess what? My hands started to clench tight, and the skin on my mouth turned numb. Scared the hell out of me!

I have two suggestions to you. If you insist on hypnotherapy, make sure that the practitioner is a mental health professional who has studied hypnotism, and not some jerk who has taken a course, and put out a shingle.

If it were me, I would opt for phobia desensitization. Find out if there is a place near you that specializes in this kind of treatment. Check with the mental health society in your area. Good Luck!

Thanks Phoenix, I would definitely go to an accredited therapist, e.g. approved by British Council of Hypnotherapists (or something of that ilk). I have tried desensitization, it just hasn't seemed to work
I may have to accept that driving just 'isn't for me'

ThinkZinc- Please don't give up. There are many people out there who have overcome phobias, and there is help out there.

bookmarking for now...I have anxiety trouble sleeping and am interested in what people have to say about alternative approaches to dealing with things. Be back later.

Thanks Phoenix, I haven't given up hope

That's an interesting experience, Phoenix -- never heard of anything like it.

I got interested in Ericksonian hypnosis for entirely intellectual reasons. Saw a course in hypnosis aimed at those who wanted to get state certification and "hang out a shingle." Took the course (but with no intentions of doing it professionally -- actually, it was a series of really interesting and challenging courses over maybe six, eight months). Found it most useful. Although I learned how to put others under (as individuals and in groups), I really used it mostly on myself -- and a couple of friends who were curious! Never in that time did I encounter someone who went so deep as to lose control -- in fact one of the surprises of hypnosis is that you are not under the control of another person but simply in a trance state in which you are fully aware that, say, the phone is ringing, and can choose whether to shake yourself out of the trance and answer the phone or not. I've used it (on myself) in all kinds of little ways which have helped. I gave myself a suggestion about ALWAYS putting on my seat belt and still do so automatically. Have put myself to sleep on nights when I'm tossing and turning. Got through a long wait in a hospital emergency waiting room with a badly damaged ankle using a suggestions of numbness to get past the pain. I use it almost daily to remember where I've put stuff (!) Things like that. Wouldn't leave home without it!

You really can't be hypnotized into a state which leaves you at the mercy of others -- beyond moral and practical boundaries. If I remember correctly, hypnosis can be used quite effectively to help get past phobias, but it's not quick and easy and requires a professional who is familiar with phobics.

Also learned TM years and years ago. I think the interest in hypnosis came mostly from that really...

I know someone who is a "certified hypnotherapist" and he tried to hypnotize me but it wasn't possible. He tells me that 10% of people can't be hypnotized...