Hypnotherapy in Stockport, Cheshire, near Manchester

Hypnotherapy to Overcome Fear / Phobia of Public Speaking / Presentation Anxiety / Stage Fright

Tranquil Spirit Hypnotherapy - Qualified and Registered Hypnotherapist

Paul McGlone, BSc(Hons)Soc, DipCD, FETC, CertED, MTSH.Dip.(Hyp), LHS

I am a hypnotherapist in Stockport, Cheshire, near Manchester using hypnosis within hypnotherapy for a wide range of conditions including programmes to help you to overcome fear / phobia of public speaking / presentation anxiety / stage fright. We are within easy traveling distance of Manchester, Altrincham, Ashton, Buxton, Glossop, Hyde, Macclesfield, Sale, Wilmslow and other towns in Cheshire, Derbyshire, and Lancashire near to the Greater Manchester area.

Overview of Fear / Phobia of Public Speaking / Presentation Anxiety / Stage Fright

A fear of giving a talk or presentation to an audience in public is a very common fear. Some people may dread receiving the "honour" of being asked to speak at an event such as a wedding for instance. For some people it is not an occasional anxiety, as giving a talk or presentation is an unavoidable part of a course they are studying or a part of their role in their work. For still other people, for instance actors, actresses, musicians, giving a public performance, whether it be speaking or performing on a musical instrument, is an intrinsic part of their work in a theatre or concert hall. The term "stage fright" indeed started as a reference to intense anxiety experienced before going on stage. However, there is much that all these situations have in common and the fear and anxiety experienced in these situations could all be described as forms of Performance Anxiety.

Prior to a performance people with this kind of anxiety may feel a dread of the situation that they are going into and have an apprehension about all kinds of things that they are convinced are likely to happen. As with other anxiety conditions they may experience a variety of physical symptoms such as: fast heartbeat or heart palpitations, shortness of breath, tense muscles, faintness or feeling dizzy, sweating, etc. They may experience thoughts and feelings of a need to escape and a feeling of being out of control or fear of freezing and not being able to remember what they want to say or being unable to get it out.

As with other phobias part of the problem is that once we have experieced fear/anxiety in a particular situation our minds create an association and we come to anticipate the same reaction. This anticipation in itself creates fear and anxiety and we end up with a fear of the experience of fear which can create a vicious circle which it becomes hard to break.

The level of anxiety experienced can obviously be draining both physically and emotionally. Some people with the condition soldier on forcing themselves to experience the problematic situations. Others may start to adopt avoidance behaviour to save themselves from the trauma. Either approach is undesirable. The "I'm going to get on with life regardless" approach while commendable at one level, actually can make the condition worse in some ways. The avoidance response on the other hand can rob the person of important life experiences and they can sometimes get into a pattern of increasing avoidance of problematic situations.

The condition often can be traced back to a specific occasion earlier in life which brought about its onset. It can also be indicative of more general underlying issues around self-esteem, self-confidence and self-trust which may also need to be addressed in order to ensure success.

If you experience any kind of performance anxiety a thorough assessment is essential to determine the factors which are affecting you in order to devise a programme of hypnotherapy tailored to your individual needs.

Hypnotherapy Assessment for Fear / Phobia of Public Speaking / Presentation Anxiety / Stage Fright

An assessment may include some of the following:

• Considering your own specific motivations for overcoming your fear of speaking or performing in public.



• Discussing your thoughts and emotions which you experience when you are in performance situations and your perception of other people in these situations.



• Identify if there was a significant experience of speaking or performing in public in your life which was instrumental in bringing about the condition.



• Identifying specific situations/events which trigger the fear / anxiety of speaking or performing in public and particular trigger points within these situations/events.



• Considering practical strategies appropriate to you personally which can help you to relax and handle the situation and which hypnotherapy can strengthen.



• Identifying relaxing/calming and relevant successful past general experiences in your life which can be used positively within hypnotherapy.



• Consider your own perceptions and feelings about yourself.



• Consideration of how people around you are affecting you eg: sources of support.

Programme of Hypnotherapy to Overcome Fear / Phobia of Public Speaking / Presentation Anxiety / Stage Fright

Depending upon the above we will then agree a programme of hypnotherapy to help you to overcome the fear of speaking or performing in public and to build your confidence in being in such situations. This could include:

• Building upon your motivations for overcoming the fear. Positive motivations are an important tool for creating change.



• If an early experience is relevant we will address this to enable you to let go of any negative associations leaving you free to move on.



• Work to give you more awareness and control over your emotions.



• Replace fearful/anxious thoughts and emotions with calming/relaxing/peaceful ones.



• Reframe how you perceive, experience and think about the problematic situations involving speaking or performing in public.



• Strengthen positive practical strategies for dealing with fear/anxiety.



• Reframe your perceptions of how others are viewing and evaluating you.



• Where necessary strengthen your general levels of self-esteem and confidence.



• Develop a greater sense of freedom, spontaneity and self-trust in situations.



• Reduce negative thoughts and doubts and reinforce your confidence in your ability to succeed in overcoming the fear of speaking or performing in public.



• If you wish during one of the sessions we will make a recording on CD to complement the live hypnotherapy session for a nominal charge. This will be tailored to your needs and can then be used in your own home to reinforce the work we have done in the "live sessions". This has generally been found to be the best way to produce audio recordings that will be effective.

The above is not exhaustive but will give you an indication of the general approach. All of the above would involve the use of direct and indirect suggestions, visualisation, imagery, etc. Because we are working together with your unconscious mind we are tapping into resources to help you change which are usually not easily accessible to your conscious mind.

The number of sessions required is likely to be three to four depending upon the degree of the anxiety and the complexities involved. Please see the Hypnotherapy Fees Page for details of fees.

Contact Details

If you feel we may be able to help you through hypnotherapy please do not hesitate to contact us. You can always telephone us for a chat without any obligation. You can phone us on 0161 483 7014 or Mobile: 07904 162904 or please click here to send me a message using a Contact Form.

Our postal address is:

Paul McGlone
Tranquil Spirit,
339, Bramhall Lane,
Davenport,
Stockport,
Cheshire.
SK3 8TP.

"Tranquil Spirit" is a short distance from Stockport Town Centre and Railway Station and on the main bus route between Stockport and Bramhall. Davenport Railway Station (on the Manchester to Buxton/Hazel Grove line) is ten minutes walk away. The M60 Manchester Outer Ring Road is a short distance away (coming the west and south of Manchester via the Cheadle or Stockport junctions; from the east via the junction after Bredbury, signposted for Stockport) with good links to the M56, M6 and M62. We can provide fuller directions at the time of arranging a visit.

Home Visits

If you do not live nearby and it would be difficult for you to travel to us it may still be possible for us to do a home visit if you live in the Cheshire, Derbyshire, Lancashire areas bordering on Greater Manchester. If you opt for this you will need to ensure the use of a room which will be relatively quiet and free from disturbance. Please contact me for further details.