Hypnotism for Test Anxiety

When I was in school, I used to get so upset before I took tests that I made myself sick. Of course, this didn’t help. I would get out of the test for one day, but I still had to take the test. One fateful day, I told a college professor about this problem that had plagued me since eight grade. She said she could help with my Test Anxiety by hypnotizing me.

Sure enough, after three hypnosis sessions, I was managing quite well. I made it through mid-terms that year and final exams with no problems at all  This was amazing to me. I had already been stressing about my senior comprehensives for two years, with two more years to go before I even had to take them. What a relief!

I was so impressed with the hypnosis, I became a hypnotist and a part of my Stamford, CT practice is helping students with test anxiety and focusing on studying. The client and I only need to meet 3-4 times, but the student usually start to notice a difference in their behavior quite quickly.

Recently, the New York Times printed an interesting article on this subject. Are we predestined to be a lousy test taker? Is it in our genes? My roommate, Betsy, never got sick before exams -Why did I?

I don’t know the answer to those questions. But I DO know that you don’t have to suffer with Test Anxiety, whether or not you were genetically programmed for it. You can change your behavior, change your response.

Near the end of their last session, I will asked my clients, “So, how was the test last Friday? (or How do you feel about your test this Friday?)” and the answer from my student is some version of “Yeah, I thought I’d be scared, but, like, you know, whatever.” THAT’S what I want to hear!

The link to the NYT article is here:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/10/magazine/why-can-some-kids-handle-pressure-while-others-fall-apart.html?ref=magazine