While hypnosis alone cannot adequately treat anxiety disorders, the addition of hypnosis to the therapeutic treatment of anxiety can have a profound impact on helping a person mitigate and cope with their anxiety. As Clinical Psychologists, we find that by giving our clients the additional tool of hypnosis, they are often able to use it to calm themselves in times of anxiety and panic. We combine hypnotic techniques with traditional therapy modalities to address the troubling symptoms associated with anxiety and panic.
In a relaxed and reflective hypnotic state, our clients are able to decrease the intensity of their anxious feelings, while gaining insight into the root causes of their behavior. By tapping into their inner resources and creative problem-solving skills, clients can challenge the irrational beliefs and catastrophic thinking patterns so often associated with anxiety. And through the use of guided imagery and indirect suggestion, clients learn to accept and cope with their fears.
Anxiety can be paralyzing. It can keep us from making friends, engaging in social activities, or moving forward in our careers. Worse, it is extremely uncomfortable and interferes with our health and our everyday lives.
Anxiety can manifest both somatically and cognitively, and a person’s reactions to anxiety often exacerbate their symptoms. Somatically, anxiety can show up as a racing heart, shallow breath, or other uncomfortable bodily reactions. Cognitively, anxiety can take the form of intrusive thoughts that something terrible might happen or as worries about what others might think.
Anxiety can also interfere with your work or relationships, which often results in lowered self-esteem. To address the complexities of anxiety, our therapists employ mindfulness, psychoanalysis, and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) to delve into the underlying causes of anxiety, while applying hypnosis to the specific difficulties that arise as a result of anxiety.
Some types of anxiety, such as GAD, social anxiety and social phobia, seem to impact every aspect of our lives. It can feel like non stop racing thoughts and constant worry, even when we know logically that the worry is exaggerated or feels more intense than what we believe is proportionate to the concern. Intense anxiety can have a physical impact on us, such as muscle tension, sleep difficulties, headaches, and fatigue; it can also have debilitating cognitive effects, such as fear of being humiliated or judged, worry about interacting with others, or expecting the worst possible outcomes in social situations.
While all of our therapists specialize in GAD and Social Anxiety and Social Phobia, each clinician blends hypnosis with their unique perspectives and backgrounds:
Dr. Sara Glazer integrates hypnosis with her background in attachment theory, relational psychoanalysis, and mindfulness to help her clients address issues with anxiety as well as grief, self-esteem, and relational trauma. In combination with Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), self-compassion practices, and Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), her approach uses hypnosis as a powerful tool for change, and she assists her clients in exploring how their struggles relate to their self-perception and relationships with others.
Dr. Rebecca Hoffenberg relies on her expertise in Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), CBT, and mindfulness to work with her clients on identifying and addressing problematic behaviors associated with anxiety. She is an expert in anxiety that is related to trauma, and her approach allows clients to understand their unconscious motivations so they can move forward in their lives with increased confidence and resilience.
Dr. Kimberly Fishbach uses an approach that is direct and straightforward, giving people practical tools to deal with anxiety on a conscious level, while using hypnosis to instill calm on an unconscious level. With extensive training in CBT, DBT, mindfulness, and hypnosis, she uses integrative psychotherapy methods and hypnotic techniques to help her clients address roadblocks, learn new ways of coping, and develop solutions and skills to improve their quality of life.
Dr. Karolina Pekala combines her expertise in CBT, DBT, and psychodynamic therapy with hypnosis to help her clients recognize and embrace their inner strengths. Her holistic approach incorporates hypnosis to help her clients achieve their goals. She is experienced working with adolescents, teens, and adults and has a keen focus on how unconscious processes influence feelings and complex behaviors. She is especially adept at helping teens and adults navigate challenging social situations and overcome fears that prevent them from experiencing meaningful relationships.
Dr. Laura Faiwiszewski incorporates mindfulness and acceptance-based approaches in the treatment of generalized anxiety, social anxiety, and social phobia to foster deeper awareness and acceptance of these unwanted states, in the service of overarching values and goals. Taking a collaborative approach with her clients and utilizing mindfulness and hypnosis, Dr. Faiwiszewski elicits the client’s personal strengths and empowers her clients to utilize inner resources to cope with anxiety, and also helps clients to change their relationship to feared stimuli. In this way, clients are better able to focus on what truly is important to them, and can get back to living a life of value and meaning.
Dr. Demi Maglio utilizes an integrative approach to treating anxiety, which allows her to tailor therapy to each client’s unique individualized needs and develop skills that reduce suffering and improve quality of life. She uses cognitive-behavioral modalities to help clients explore how their thoughts, feelings, and behaviors interact, with the notion that if one aspect of the triad is modified, this can promote change in the other aspects of the relationship. She also draws from her training in acceptance-commitment, mindfulness, and hypnosis to help clients develop a healthier relationship with their anxiety, increase psychological flexibility, and live a meaningful life that is guided by value-driven behavior.
Dr. Kimberly Fishbach, Dr. Karolina Pekala and Dr. Demi Maglio are our experts in using hypnosis and therapy to help actors, athletes, performers, and those in public speaking roles decrease their anxiety and increase their confidence when engaging in public speaking or performing. They use hypnosis and mindfulness in conjunction with CBT and DBT to empower their clients to reclaim control over their lives. Their integrative approach allows their clients to develop new coping skills, boost confidence, and gain deeper self-awareness while they address the emotional and psychological issues interfering with their personal, relational, and professional goals.
Dr. Fishbach and Dr. Pekala’s approach to motivation and professional achievement centers on removing roadblocks, learning new ways of coping, and improving not only their performance, but also the quality of lives. They incorporate hypnosis and mindfulness to alleviate stress and to allow their clients to envision a more gratifying future filled with greater joy, wellbeing, and peace - both in the workplace and at home. With attention to humor, creativity, and empathy, they offer a warm and comfortable environment for their clients to let down their guard and focus on their growth.
Dr. Maglio’s approach utilizes motivational interviewing to assess people’s readiness for change, identify psychological factors that influence human performance, and address barriers to optimal performance. She received her Master’s degree in Sport and Performance Psychology, where she became an expert in assisting professional athletes, performers, and business executives in optimizing performance, personal growth, and professional achievement. Taking a collaborative approach to therapy, Dr. Maglio uses cognitive-behavioral modalities and positive psychology in conjunction with mindfulness and hypnosis to equip clients with mental skills that address performance anxiety, foster grit, and optimize performance and professional achievement.
Hypnosis can be extremely beneficial as a complement to therapy in addressing different aspects of public speaking and performance anxiety. Hypnosis focuses on physical reactions through relaxation and visualization techniques. This can counteract obsessive thinking by guiding the client to focus on positive thoughts, while quieting negative self-talk. Hypnosis also helps clients tackle the difficulties that often develop in response to anxiety, such as adverse lifestyle habits or problems that interfere with daily living.
Anxiety is often thought of as an amount of emotional discomfort that is disproportionate to the amount of stress one encounters. However, many of us in demanding jobs endure an extraordinary amount of stress that comes from the pressure of our jobs, and while that stress may indeed be proportionate, it can wreak havoc on our lives, impact our relationships, and leave us in a state of continual hyper-vigilance. These work demands are further exacerbated by financial stress, worry about the changing economy, and pressure to provide for our families.
Dr. Karolina Pekala, Dr. Kimberly Fishbach and Dr. Laura Faiwiszewski are our experts in helping clients address the stress that accompanies demanding careers, so they can truly enjoy the benefits of having a successful career while also living their best lives. They help clients navigate the challenges of a high pressure career in a comfortable and supportive environment, while working with them to create a life that feels fulfilling, prosperous, and balanced.
They use traditional CBT and psychodynamic approaches to help their clients make systematic and practical decisions for their lives. Additionally, they incorporate hypnosis and mindfulness to alleviate stress and to allow their clients to envision a more gratifying future of greater joy, wellbeing, and peace - both in the workplace and at home.
Although not life-threatening, a panic attack can be disorienting and frightening. When you experience a sudden surge of intense fear — accompanied by a pounding heart, shortness of breath, body chills, sweating, and/or trembling — you might even feel like you’re having a heart attack. Though they typically last only a few minutes, panic attacks can have significant impacts on quality of life. You might feel anxious about going to the movies, driving a car, or attending a meeting out of fear that another panic attack may strike. Panic disorder can lead to problems at school or work, avoiding social situations, the development of phobias, and substance abuse.
Dr. Kimberly Fishbach and Dr. Demi Maglio are our experts in helping clients find peace from panic attacks and panic disorder. They draw from their extensive training in CBT, DBT, mindfulness, hypnosis, and other evidence-based approaches to customize their clients’ therapy and promote the most effective therapeutic outcome. They work collaboratively with their clients to set goals, address roadblocks, and develop feasible solutions and skills to improve their quality of life.
Dr. Fishbach and Dr. Demi Maglio utilize a directive and integrative approach to treating panic attacks and panic disorders, which allows them to tailor therapy to each client’s unique needs and develop adaptive skills that reduce suffering and improve quality of life. They integrate cognitive-behavioral modalities, DBT, mindfulness, and hypnosis to help clients identify warning signs and/or triggers to panic symptoms, explore how their thoughts, feelings, and behaviors interact, and develop adaptive strategies to target panic and anxiety-related symptoms.
By integrating hypnosis and self-hypnosis into her treatment, they are able to empower people to overcome their panic attacks so that they can resume living free of worry and learn to enjoy life again.
Research has shown that hypnosis is particularly beneficial in treating people with anxiety, as well as addressing the issues that arise in response to anxiety. Generally, people can become fearful of both the stimuli, as well as their somatic reaction to it. Our approach to anxiety focuses on altering the way a client views the fear, while calming their reaction to that fear.
For more information about research related to hypnosis and integrative therapy for treating anxiety and related struggles, please visit the scholarly articles below:
Hypnosis & Anxiety (Sunnen, 2016)
Hypnosis Today (Smith, 2011)
Self-hypnosis for anxiety associated with severe asthma (Anbar, 2003)
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