Hypnotherapy for Exam Stress
Exams are used a great deal to measure a person’s ability. Children during the last year of primary in England sit their national curriculum tests, often known as Sats. Like them or hate them exams are part of life, school exams, college exams, university exams, passing a driving test etc. All of which can be very unnatural situations, trying to assess a person ability in such a short space of time. And the pressure to do well, to pass the exam, to not let yourself or anyone else down can be immense. Unfortunately, you can have all the necessary ability to pass an exam and still fail due to stress. Hard working people can find it difficult to study or prepare for an exam due to the build-up of stress. When you sit down and ready yourself to take an exam, everyone has felt the pressure to some degree.
Preparing for an exam
Weeks before the exam, you can experience the sensation of butterflies in our stomach. Your palms get sweaty, your heart races and you fear your memory will let you down. What if my mind goes completely blank. What if I read a question and I just don’t know how to answer it.
Feeling stressed and anxious before an exam is expected and feeling nervous is a natural emotion. The feeling doesn’t need to threaten your performance. Instead, you can actually make use of those feelings. The stress can be controlled and used to motivate you, so that you are more prepared. Hypnotherapy will help you stop the stress building up to a point where it works against you. How good would it be to know you can use all of the stress to prepare and not have any negative effects. So the stress doesn’t make your mind feel all foggy. You never reach the point at which the stress works against you.
Hypnotherapy has a proven track record in helping people cope with stress and anxiety. Your therapist will work with you to reach your goals using a range of different techniques. Every therapist may use slightly different techniques, but each will be working towards the same goal.
How hypnotherapy can help with exam stress
The power of suggestion and visualisation techniques can help you to clear your mind and approach the exam with a cool, focused head. Your mind knows the information you need to pass the exam, but when experiencing exam stress or anxiety, your ability to focus and concentrate will suffer. Hypnotherapy will help you prepare for exams, recall the information easily and correctly, as well as help restore your self-belief.
After sessions with a hypnotherapist you may feel more confident about taking exams. Many people say that they are calmer and that they have more clarity of thought – able to prepare and sit exams.
For some, who have experience insomnia due to stress, sleeping is much improved and as a result are able to work more effectively.
Hypnotherapy enables you to break free of negative thought patterns, and to react more positively and more confidently to situations in your life that may have previously made you anxious.
Self-hypnosis
Your hypnotherapist will teach you relaxation techniques and Self-hypnosis so you can control you stress levels whenever you need – not just in an exam. An exam isn’t just about passing and demonstrating your ability. Taking an exam is a skill in itself, that require you to be able to deal with pressure and the stress of an exam. The skills experienced during hypnotherapy will help you deal with your current exams. It will stay with you for future exams. Even interviews, or any other performance related stressful experience.