Many people fear being alone, but being alone doesn’t have to mean loneliness, and being in company doesn’t prevent loneliness. I regularly see clients with loneliness issues who find themselves in a spiral of thinking that makes them feel that they are isolated from other people. Sometimes a specific event may have triggered this fear of being alone, and sometimes it’s a problem that has built up over time. Either way, it’s important to focus on how to think and feel differently rather than analyse the past. The fear of being alone is often an anticipation of being alone, and only seeing a future in this fearful way. I remind clients that any feeling, including fear, is created by “how and what is being thought”, and each of us is only one thought away from feeling differently at any moment in time. Often, this feeling of being alone arises when people become convinced they can’t form relationships with others and, in some cases, stop trying.
Before any agreed sessions, either at my Leeds or Manchester hypnotherapy clinics, I always ask clients to complete a full set of client notes. This ensures that the actual session time is used to best effect. Every session is recorded so that each client can experience its benefits over and over again. Over the years, this has proved to be the best way to produce effective results. In an age of 24-hour communication, it may seem strange that this is such a common problem. However, with the advent of social networking and “online friends”, often people can feel isolated and lonely. Most clients find that after a few sessions, they can start thinking and feeling differently.