John (not his real name) a male in his mid-twenties contacted me and we had a brief consultation by telephone. During the conversation John explained that he had several issues, the main problem being general anxiety, with a fear of delivering presentations, feeling like a fraud (imposter syndrome) and generally not being able to communicate or interact with colleagues at work. His social life had deteriorated, he felt unable to socialise with his friends, even those he had known for years. John had received counselling recently for some of the issues but he felt it had not changed anything. I assured him that BWRT had a high success rate and while one can never guarantee success I have found that using BWRT for anxiety usually gets a good result.
General Anxiety
During our first session we explored in a little more detail what situations made John anxious. Having created a list we then set about working on them using BWRT. From the outset it was clear that this therapy was perfect for his needs and I observed him change physically during the work. His facial expressions changed to a more happy look and he stretched himself taller in the seat when creating some of the imagery.
After the first round of BWRT he remarked that he felt physically different as well as feeing a bit “weird”. We tested his feelings around the problem we had just worked on and he smiled and said it simply did not bother him now.
We did several others rounds of BWRT on the items listed and at the end he stood up and said he felt like he was floating and never felt as free and happy in his life.
On return for his next session he reported a complete change in the way he felt. He was no longer feeling anxious on a daily basis but found some of the other situations listed made him a little anxious still. We worked on them and he felt they had also ceased to be a problem.
Social Phobia and Self Esteem.
On our next session we discussed how he was now with regard to interacting with work colleagues and friends, and his general anxiety. He remarked that he now felt much better as a result of our previous work, even though we had not addressed the issues directly (See Note below). We worked on his feelings of not being worthy and not good enough to do his work and being regarded as a fraud (his impressions of himself).
Final Session
John arrived smiling and full of energy. He revealed that he had not only felt like his old self at work and socially but that he had been commended by his manager for his recent presentation at work to a very important customer. His boss asked him what had happened as he seemed so different in the last week, and several other colleagues noticed how relaxed and confident he was.
Our final work together concentrated on his concerns about possible future promotion which would take him out of his comfort zone and might mean a move of home. As with the previous sessions he responded well to the work and at the end felt that his fears had been as he put it “rather silly”.
Feedback
John emailed me several months later :
“Hi Alan,
I had four sessions with you and what can I say. Right from the first session I noticed significant changes. I have since moved home, changed jobs and am performing well and even looking at promotion already. My personal relationships have improved too.
The therapy has literally changed my life for the better and the speed of these changes has been incredible, virtually instant. I wanted to email you to thank you for your efforts, I feel I have my life back and I can now reach my true potential.Many Thanks,
John.
Note: Within our brain is an incredible network where everything is connected to everything else however remotely that may be. What may seem completely different issues or problems are often interlinked in some way. With general anxiety for instance, it is not unusual after working on some specific problems that other situations where anxiety is felt can often disappear. It’s a bit like Dominoes in a row, when you knock the first one over it can collapse the others. I have also seen several clients who after working on one problem e.g. fear of flying have found it also resolved a completely different problem i.e. a phobia of spiders.
“Our brain is such an amazing organ. We know a lot about how it functions but there are many areas where we simply do not know yet how it does what it does.”
If you suffer from anxiety, fears, phobias or other issues that are affecting your life, whether recently or life-long why not take that first step today and contact me for a FREE consultation?
Alan has been a practising therapist since 2006 and is a director of JustLetGo Therapies. He sees clients from Salisbury, Amesbury and many other parts of Wiltshire & Hampshire. Alan offers a free confidential consultation to prospective clients. If you are looking for the life you really deserve why not call him today and start that journey to the new you!
