hypnotherapy for confidence issues?

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thehorsediva

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I have posted a few times in here about my confidence issues! Just wondered if anyone had had success with hypnotherapy?! Have tried various things but still dont feel much further forward- my main fear is hacking due to a bolting accident! Took my horse out for his first hack since I had him (6 months) at the weekend. It was probably the first time I have hacked in about 18months. Took half a bottle of rescue remedy to get me on lol but made it 15mins round the block. He was good, just excited to be out. But it has left me more nervous than ever and I thought I would feel better!
 
I think its worth a go but see if you can find someone recommended. I booked a session in a desperate attempt to reduce my fear of going to the dentist and it defintely helped. It didn't get rid of the fear but it reduced it by at least half and meant I could actually make the phone call and get myself to the surgery!

I only did one session as it was quite expensive, £55 I think but the therapist suggested some great ways of reducing nerves, the hypnotherapy bit was only a small part of the session.

Do you have someone who could walk along side you until you feel more confident? Having someone to chat to is a good way of keeping your mind occupied and staying calm.
 
Sorry , no experience of hypnotherapy but I suggest tht next time you hack out, you take him in hand round the route first, then immediately geton and ride him round - he will be much less excited and you will know that he won't be fazed by anything you see along the route, so will be able to relax.

Good luck!
 
I have used a hypnotherapist/ nlp practioner. i was very sceptical but it was a last ditch effort before i called it quits. (for me it was competition nerves ie throwing up in the lorry, so dreading going in the ring that i literally stopped my horse from jumping) at the time of the
"treatment" i didn't feel that it was working but i took myself off to a tiny show the following week and not only did i get in the ring (my first objective!) we jumped clear and then some sort of demon overtook me and i went for it in the jump off and won the class!!! I can't say that I've won every event since but i do look forward to going out again. i Di wey a dry mouth or butterflies every now and then but can control the panic much better. i honestly can't say if it was the hypbotherapy that worked or just because i wanted it to work ( if you get what i mean) the lady i went to is horsey herself which helped cos she understood where i was coming from. so for me it was worth whether it was 'real' or not.
 
How funny, I posted just a couple of weeks ago about this. Yes, I have! Wouldn't have thought of it beforehand and have tried various things in the past which hadn't really worked but this has surprised me.

My friend's mum is a qualified hypnotherapist (works with the police, health service etc so I felt I was in good hands). Had 1 session for my confidence over hunt jumps. Was pretty amazed at the result tbh. Went out the next day and jumped stuff I'd never dreamed of doing before and have continued to feel good about it. I don't jump everything and haven't turned into a major thruster, but that wasn't the point of the session but I have felt so much calmer and more confident generally when I'm out.

It's a bit 'left field' and some people probably think I'm bonkers but, if it works, I don't mind being thought of as odd :)

Tere are of course other sensible things to do to help you and the horse, but I certainly wouldn't rule hypno out, as part of that process.

Good luck !
 
Yes. It works particularly well IMO if there are specific past incidents which are holding you back. As others have said it is only part of the package but an important part.

Make sure you get a good person, know of a terrific girl in Suffolk/Norfolk area. PM me if that's any use!
 
Thanks. I am going out with a friend so am kept busy chatting. I have also tried TFT but without much success at mo. also tried various other things such as singing, have fab instructor, been through the Kelly marks books, rescue remedy etc!! You can see why I am at the point of trying something else before I do give up...
 
Yep, I know that feeling. Spent a lot of time (and a bit of money) doing various things although oddly haven't tried rescue remedy as haven't seen it in the shops. Only tried hypno cos it was my friend's mum so I thought, what the hell, worth a try. This had the biggest impact of all the things I've tried and am still going strong several weeks later, so well worth it in my opinion. Nothing ventured and all that.
 
thanks!
Can I ask did you go to someone who worked specifically with horse riders? And how did you go about finding someone? I dont know anyone locally (Hertfordshire) who has gone down this route...
 
I recently had a course of hypnotherapy for confidence and anxiety issues that had always been there but really took off and made me a nervous wreck after a not even particularly dramatic accident (i think the mundanity might have made it worse!) I really really recommend it.

It costs quite a lot but has changed my attitude in a lot of ways and I didn't realise that I was not sleeping well at all before as my brain was so active worrying about things, my hypnotherapist/NLP practitioner is based in Cambridge if that's not too far, I believe he specialises in sports as he used to be a personal trainer! If you would like a recommendation I would be happy to send you the details :-)
 
thehorsediva said:
thanks!
Can I ask did you go to someone who worked specifically with horse riders? And how did you go about finding someone? I dont know anyone locally (Hertfordshire) who has gone down this route...
Click to expand...

Yes you do - me! ;)

I will PM you - she's in Herts. Her daughter is a rider, which I suspect helped her make it more relevant for me.
 
Molly - so true about not necessarily feeling like it is working at the time. He told me beforehand that I may feel like I was not 'hypnotised' generally wondering is this working, he says it'll work but maybe I'll be the incurable one, etc, but basically you find it working when you hit the moments that would normally worry you, you find yourself not even thinking about it and then often after the event being like 'hang on, I'm sure I normally would have been freaking out there, but I did it'

The hardest thing about confidence is the fact that you KNOW there is nothing to worry about (or at least not as much as you do worry about) and especially with horses that worrying only makes it worse but your 'subconscious' is telling you to get off, get out of this situation, go home and hide!
 
Thanks everyone..perhaps it is worth a try. Anything is as I am desperate not to give up!

mandwhy- that is exactly how I feel...I spend half the time beating myself up for being so stupid about being worried about nothing!
 
I have high hopes that it will help you then HD :-)

The beauty of it is you don't really have to do anything. I think a lot of therapies that involve you doing something to change your attitude are very difficult for some people as you can't tell yourself how to think! We all know we should not feel irrational fears, hence why they are irrational, and when we try to reason with ourselves it only gets more frustrating, you can tell yourself over and over not to feel a certain way, but you won't really believe it. Think of it like a person who is terrified of spiders, they know your average UK household spider will do them no harm, but that doesn't stop the fear and that makes those people feel ridiculous and small. Any friend can tell them 'you shouldn't be scared' and they might even be able to become desensitised (like what you are doing by making yourself hack out even though you think it is scary) but really that's the painful way of doing it, and if you had the option to take away the worry and fear in the first place, well anyone would take that option really.

I'm starting to sound like some sort of brain washed advert for hypnosis, but I finished my course of 3 sessions about a month ago, so this is the biggest period of change for me. It hasn't been hard, I haven't felt like I'm fighting against adversity, its just been easy and natural and I only know its happened because of the little things I have been able to do that I couldn't before.
 
Worked for me too.

I just listened to a Paul Mckenna CD about improving general confidence. But it worked when it came to riding. I was amazed that it did but I couldn't argue with the result!

I had another one for hypnobirthing which I used when I had my baby, but that one was rubbish.
 
noblesteed- could you let me know which Paul McKenna one you listened to? Someone else recommended his cds to me so they might be worth a go :-)
 
Hi, I tend to kill threads so apologies in advance!
Have you tried Larry Bensusan?
He has a website and works with quite a few riders.
I'm based in herts and he's treated my horse and is very good at what he does (not for confidence issues, he also does massage!)
 
MandWhy I have PM'd you for details of the guy you used as I have just started thinking about hypnotherapy. I thought my confidence was back after a horrible accident 2 years ago and I slight blip recently made me realise that I can't cope when things go wrong!
 
thank you for the recommendation for Larry Bensusan. I have contacted him so hope to hear back from him soon. Also going to order the Paul McKenna cd to get me started. Feeling like I have tried all the options and exhausted with it! Tried the hacking with confidence cd's but didnt have any success with that series. Had such a terrible session with my horse this morning I am feeling most deflated :-(
 
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