A private session of self-therapy (7)

Once you have mastered the relaxation exercise, you will be prepared for a private session of self-therapy. When you reach the state of mental relaxation, imagine that you are confronted with that specific person or situation causing your anxiety. If at the time you perform this exercise you notice that you are getting a little anxious or restless, take a deep breath, forget the subject and return to your state of mental relaxation.

Remember, what you will be doing will be to visualize on the screen of your mind, while you keep your eyes closed and relaxed, the situation that causes you anxiety. At that moment you will observe yourself in that situation, but maintaining total control of your emotions, centered on yourself and without experiencing anxiety or discomfort of any kind.

This should be done only after performing the full relaxation exercise, which will take about 10 minutes. If you prefer, you can spend 5 to 10 minutes to the post-relaxation visualization exercise and both will help you feel calmer and prepare to face the situations you now fear. You can do this exercise daily or 2 or 3 times a week according to your free time.

Don't try to visualize more than one problem per session. It is recommended that you dedicate a minimum of 10 sessions to each specific situation before continuing with any other that you could have. Remember, first the relaxation exercise will take you about 10 minutes. Then, once the relaxation is assumed, you will project on the screen of your mind that specific situation that is causing you anxiety so you'll be confronted with it. If you begin to feel restless or anxious, then you just leave the exercise, take one or two deep breaths and try again at another time. When you'll do, you will visualize yourself involved in the specific situation, but in full control of it.

You'll notice how the next time you are confronted with circumstances that previously caused you anxiety, you will be more prepared to face them and you will feel calmer and more confident in yourself as your subconscious mind has been receiving the effect of the visualization exercises that you've been doing. If possible, try to combine your visualization exercise with getting into that specific situation in which you have been working. This will greatly help you in the process of systematic desensitization that we have explained.

It is also practical to consider that whenever you have to deal with anxious circumstances, give yourself a brief mental treatment a few minutes before. Simply take several deep breaths and exhale slowly, then for a moment visualize yourself confident and able to cope with the specific situation for which you are preparing.

It is quite possible to win the battle against anxiety, even though at this moment it seems like a huge mountain to move. Remember, to move mountains you have to start by moving the stones until all the work is completed. It will only take the genuine desire to improve and some effort on our side because everything in life requires effort to achieve it. In short, this is the method of desensitization or gradual deprogramming through visualization and confrontation with direct experiences.

Photo by Bill Strain