Hypnosis for Test Anxiety in Los Angeles

Hypnosis for Test Anxiety

You Can Overcome Test Anxiety with Hypnosis & Hypnotherapy

Anxiety by itself is a rather overwhelming word. For different people, the term anxiety may mean a number of things or situations that can range from stress, tension, anticipation, frustration, insecurity and even irresolution. In fact, the scenario is different for everyone yet the common denominator is an uncomfortable feeling as if everything around you is about to go completely wrong.

And this is just anxiety on its own. When you add a particular scenario into the mix, such as feeling anxious before a test, an exam or an assessment, the same anxiety turns into what is known as test anxiety. It can also go by the names of exam anxiety, exam nerves or exam stress.

The feeling is one of experiencing an intense moment of fear or panic before or during an exam or assessment. You may have experienced the same when all the worrying and negative thinking starts interfering with studying. And no matter how well you may have prepared for an exam you start to doubt yourself, think that you will forget everything that you have studied, or perhaps that there won’t be enough time for you to finish everything.

Now feeling a little anxious or stressed prior to an exam is natural and somewhat expected. In fact, anxiety has a purpose. It is a natural response in unknown situations and works as a protective mechanism to either escape from the situation or maneuver around it successfully.

In many cases, people may actually use this anxiety as a prompt and steer it to attend to the task at hand but others may just as easily succumb to the pressure and find the whole scenario overwhelming. And if these feelings become heightened, they can jeopardize performance and the stress may cause you to achieve well below your true potential.

Who experiences exam stress?

This kind of an episode can derail even the best of students. In fact, anyone required to sit for an exam can be susceptible to it and it really doesn’t have anything to do with individual intelligence. However, the symptoms of test anxiety can vary form one person to the next.

For instance, if you experience only mild test anxiety, then all you may suffer from are some physical symptoms like headaches, some nausea or perhaps a dry mouth. You friend, on the other hand, also suffering mild anxiety, may exhibit a different set of symptoms including excessive sweating, shortness of breath, light headedness or a rapid heartbeat.

Taking the anxiety up a notch, if you also feel some emotional symptoms such as excessive fear, depression or an uncontrollable feeling of helplessness then your anxiety may be somewhat moderate.

But if the symptoms of test anxiety go beyond being physical and emotional, and include behavioral and cognitive elements then your level of anxiety will be classed as severe. These symptoms can include behaviors like fidgeting, pacing, avoidance or substance abuse.

If you find yourself experiencing difficulty concentrating, going blank, negative self-talk or reliving past failures then you likely suffer from severe test anxiety. In these cases, if your nerves start to get the better of you, they can generate panic and anxiety attacks. Plus, if you are not sure of how to manage these feelings, they can just as easily evolve into a vicious cycle of more forceful feelings.

If you let this domino effect continue unchecked, it can have an adverse effect on your unconscious mind and even result in long term performance-based anxiety.

How can Hypnotherapy Help?

Research has already established that excessive stress can interfere with focus, memory, and concentration. If you put too much stress on yourself to succeed while being afraid that you won’t be able to master the material or will freeze during an exam, you may be setting yourself up for defeat.

Research has also established that people only use 10% of their brain. So, while hypnotherapy cannot give you intelligence that you don’t already have, it can surely extract and utilize all that you are truly capable of.

But first, to overcome your exam nerves, you will need to relax, tune out the negative self-talk, and boost your confidence. These are some of the things that hypnotherapy can help you achieve.

In terms of getting ready to take a test, or working on your study habits, hypnotherapy can assist you in the following areas:

Quit procrastinating and start studying
Develop focus
Ignore distractions
Improve comprehension
Boost memory and recall
Feel less overwhelmed by the amount of study material

Once you have prepped for the test or exam, hypnotherapy can also help you achieve the following:

Help you relax and stay calm
Learn to tune out distractions
Stop obsessing over the clock
Assist with memory, recall, and reasoning
Stop second guessing your answers
Learn positive thinking skills

How it does this and much more is by using the power of suggestion and perhaps visualization to encourage you to clear your mind and sit for the exam with a composed and confident head.

Your mind already contains the information you require to be successful at the exam but with exam stress in the way your capacity to concentrate and focus suffers. However, since hypnosis is an open state of mind, it can be used to develop new ways of thinking and feeling. Here, hypnotherapy will assist you with recalling the information readily and accurately while also restoring your self-confidence.

Successful hypnotherapy for test anxiety can leave you looking forward to taking the test knowing you have prepared well. Instead of feeling intimidated, you can see test taking as an opportunity to show what you know.

So if negative thinking, fear and self-limiting beliefs have been holding you back, you can use some help from professional hypnotherapy to release your potential. Based in Los Angeles, Jake Rubin, M.A. is a recognized expert in hypnosis who has helped many clients with their testing success and reduced their test anxiety. Click the button below to schedule a complimentary consultation or appointment.