Celeste Simons (anger management)
Homemaker
Austin, TX
I've had a problem with high levels of anxiety and irritation over the last several years. I have chronic pain related to autoimmune disease and it made it difficult for me to keep my positive thoughts in the forefront. The negativity fed back into the pain and everything else. Over the past few years, I've tended to just kind of keep to myself and isolate from friends. I was getting very grumpy with my family and I was not treating them very well. I wanted to be a good mother and wife, but my attitude was impacting things, the kids were fighting with each other a lot and we weren't very organized. There's the saying, "When Mamma ain't happy, ain't nobody happy" and I think that's very true when it came to my family. I would wake up in the morning and tell myself that I was going to have a good attitude and I just couldn't do it. I was so angry and irritable that it didn't take much to set me off and I felt really out of control.
I have tried a lot of prayer and private meditation, but a part of me was just really overwhelmed with fear and anxiety that I would be stuck like this forever. I have always had a strong spiritual life, but over time I had become very isolated because I had lost support from my faith community. I have been to many counselors and a lot of them seemed to want to justify my feelings and thoughts and that's great, but I didn't want to continue to feel like this, empathy was not what I needed; I needed a kick in the butt to get over the hurdle.
I heard about A New Day Hypnosis on Google. I've never done hypnosis before and I didn't know what it was going to be like, so I had some concerns. I wondered if it was really going to be very useful to me. I know that there are a lot of people who do stage hypnosis and I wasn't interested in that. I didn't want to go to someone who was just playing around with it and I wanted to be sure I was really working with a more practical application of hypnosis. I liked Laura's perspective. She seemed more realistic, down to earth and reasonable than the other hypnosis sites that I looked at.
I could tell a difference in my level of control after the first session. I was able to recognize when I was starting to get negative and I had more awareness. I felt more in control of my situation and I started taking better care of myself. It has been an incremental change, it builds on itself and I notice that things get a little bit easier every time. I've been able to take more positive steps to push harder with my doctors and get a better diagnosis. I feel a lot better physically and that has been very positive. I definitely have more energy and I sleep better at night.
My husband and my kids have noticed that I'm more positive and easier to get along with. A lot of my friends have noticed that I'm more personable lately. For the most part, I'm spending more time with friends and I have more to talk about than just how bad I feel. I no longer feel obligated to respond to other people when they pick at me. I can do things at my own pace and I can say no, which makes me a lot happier. I feel more confident in general. I can set boundaries and parent my kids clearly. It's been a lot easier to help my kids become more responsible. I feel more comfortable with myself and I know that I'm doing the right thing.
The most important benefits that I've received have been increased confidence and learning how to set boundaries. These were really the crux of the negativity, frustration and anger. When I wasn't able to set boundaries, I was angry with myself and angry with whomever I stepped over the line for. I wanted people to recognize my contributions and I was resentful when they didn't.
I would recommend A New Day Hypnosis to anyone who wants to overcome feelings of negativity. It's great to be able to understand the root of my behaviors and talk it through in a positive way. Figuring out where it came from has been key for me and having the reinforcement has really helped. The hypnosis helped to strengthen my beliefs and pull it forward and I am confident that I can stay on the right track.