After years of conventional “talk” therapy and cognitive behavioral therapy for treatment of general anxiety disorder and claustrophobia (with fear of sitting on an airplane as one of the major issues), I decided to follow my friend’s advice and try hypnotherapy with Teresa Sienkiewicz at New Body New Mind (my friend was Teresa’s client and had great results with hypnosis for panic attacks).
I had researched the topic of hypnosis with great interest, but also with a good deal of skepticism. Despite my hesitations, due to the fact that I had not made any real progress with my other treatments, I decided I would give it a fair try. My additional motivation was that my 17 year old daughter really wanted to go to South America and I was determined to go with her, but to do that I needed first to be able to get onto a plane. And how was a supposed to do it when even a thought of entering a plane was setting off a panic in me? So I drove over an hour to meet with Teresa and discuss my case.
I was greeted at her office with friendliness, care and compassion and felt completely comfortable and relaxed in her presence. She was very thorough during my initial visit and wanted to understand every detail of the issues I had hoped to resolve. I trusted her competence and credentials and somehow I was confident that she could help me and I was correct about that.
After just three sessions with Teresa, I was amazed at the outcome: I no longer had fears of closed spaces and was overall a more calm, relaxed and confident person. But the true test came during the trip to South America (yes, I did go with my daughter just three weeks after my third session with Teresa). I was completely calm and relaxed on the plane, just as I was feeling during my mental practice with Teresa when in hypnosis. Then, when we were in Peru, every day I was sitting in crowded cars, mini-vans, busses, trains, etc. and I was perfectly fine with that. At one point during our travels, our train broke down on the tracks in the middle of the Andes mountains. We were trapped for nearly 3 hours in a very crowded car with no air conditioning and limited water. It was the ultimate “test” for me and I was in total control. No panic whatsoever. During that entire time, I never once felt claustrophobic, anxious or fearful despite many people around me having a very difficult time. I knew immediately that my reaction to the situation was a direct result of the help I had received from Teresa. Also, during one of our numerous hikes, we had to navigate through a long, extremely narrow, dark cavern with no sight of the other end and again I was able to do it with no anxiety at all. It was such a liberating experience and I cannot thank Teresa enough for all her help and expertise.
To this day, I am able to travel and live with confidence having overcome the fears and anxieties that had plagued me for years. Hypnosis has changed my life and the life of my family for the better in the most profound way.