Ellie,* is a very personable and self-confident woman in her early thirties. Or so she appeared to be!
She had been recommended to contact me by a friend of hers who had consulted me for anxiety issues. Ellie was having a big emotional struggle, especially in her workplace. She was part of a three- person team and although they all worked well together and cooperatively, the other two shared conversation, comments and jokes together, rarely giving Ellie eye contact in an inclusive way.
Ellie was able to present a façade of self-assuredness and confidence while her inner self was in turmoil, always believing she somehow wasn’t good enough.
Using hypnosis, I was able to take Ellie back in her imagination to visit her younger self. She found a five-year-old self whose well-meaning parents were avoiding praising her in case it made her complacent and stopped her striving for better. Their feedback focused only on how to improve what she had done without acknowledging her good result or effort.
In a comfortable, relaxed trance state, today’s Ellie reassured young Ellie and told her how proud she was of her, and importantly told her she loved her. Young Ellie, who had been trying to protect today’s Ellie from the emotional feeling of not being approved, agreed to set today’s Ellie free to be herself.
Ellie is now more relaxed at work and is comfortable with the idea that two of her colleagues are close friends of each other. She does not now interpret that as demonstrating an aversion towards her.
*Names and other identifiable details have been changed to preserve confidentiality. Such details can be made available to any regulatory body seeking to verify authenticity.