Anxiety Stress and Panic Attacks

Tackling Anxiety with Cognitive Behavioural Hypnotherapy

by Dan Regan | Oct 12, 2025 | Anxiety Stress and Panic Attacks

Tackling Anxiety with Cognitive Behavioural Hypnotherapy

In this article, I cover tackling anxiety with Cognitive Behavioural Hypnotherapy.

For some people, it can seem as though their anxiety creeps in when they least expect it. For others, anxiety has been a way of life for too long. Sometimes better, sometimes worse, yet always present.

You know that there is no real, actual danger and nothing for you to actually feel anxious about. Yet your heart races, your mind races faster and your body can feel as if it on high alert. It’s exhausting, and it can leave you feeling as though you’re stuck in an endless loop of tension and worry.

Anxiety isn’t a sign of weakness, failure or something being wrong with you. It’s a learned response that has become habitual. Those patterns of thoughts, feelings and reactions have become automatic through repetition. No matter how long you have struggled with anxiety, there is good news. You can change those patterns and replace them with something more calm and helpful.

This is exactly where my cognitive behavioural hypnotherapy comes in to help you to tackle your anxiety. We will combine the practical tools of cognitive behavioural therapy, helping you challenge and reframe unhelpful thinking, with the relaxation, focused imagination and skills of hypnosis. You can create lasting change that helps you feel better and better. You can calm your mind and body and direct your own thoughts and feelings.

Below, I’ve covered five simple action points that you can start using today to help you relax, refocus, reset and feel calmer.

Why Do I Feel Anxious?

by Dan Regan | Oct 8, 2025 | Anxiety Stress and Panic Attacks

Why Do I Feel Anxious?

One of the most common questions I get asked is, why do I feel anxious?

Someone will be sitting in my office for a free initial consultation or at their first hypnotherapy session. They’ll tell me about their racing, negative thoughts and how they always think the worst. They’ll tell me about the fast breathing, heart palpitations, sweating and other physical symptoms of anxiety. And they’ll then tell me that they don’t know why they feel anxious.

Often life is good and there is not an actual, factual reason for the anxiety. It’s frustrating. The same old thoughts and feelings going around and around. You know you don’t have anything to feel anxious about but it still happens. You may have spent hour after hour racking your brain to try and understand why you feel the way you do.

Logically there is probably no reason for you to feel anxious. Sometimes someone has experienced something, after which they started struggling with anxiety. In those sort of cases we can point to what started it.

Yet, for most people, the anxiety sort of starts and you don’t realise it is a problem until it is already a problem. Then you are stuck with the same habitual pattern of anxious thoughts, feelings, actions and reactions. Your brain is seeking to keep you safe but is overprotecting you because you already know there is no threat. This is where hypnotherapy can help. You can take back control over what is going on inside of your own head. You can start to feel more calm, confident and in control.

Anxiety Hypnotherapy Online

by Dan Regan | Sep 27, 2025 | Anxiety Stress and Panic Attacks

Anxiety Hypnotherapy Online

In recent weeks I’ve been busy helping many people across the UK, and even further afield, through my anxiety hypnotherapy online sessions. Of course, online sessions aren’t just for anxiety. I’ve also been helping others with phobias and fears, insomnia, low confidence and taking back control over alcohol and eating habits.

This is just a quick reminder that, if you can’t easily get to Ely or Newmarket, then you can still get help. You can still overcome your anxiety and start feeling better in yourself.

I still get many questions from people about whether hypnotherapy sessions over zoom are as effective as those in person. And the answer is yes, online sessions are equally as effective. The research and my own experience confirm this. Many of my positive reviews come from clients who had sessions online. It’s also possible to mix between online and in person sessions if that works better for you.

Wherever you are located, I still want to help you to feel calm, confident and in control over your thoughts, feelings, actions and reactions. Distance no longer has to be a barrier to getting effective help and support.

If you are currently struggling with anxiety then the first step I recommend is a free initial consultation. We’ll talk about what you experiencing and how you want to change it. I’ll cover how it all works and answer any questions you have. We are then all good to go for helping you feel better and better.

School Anxiety

by Dan Regan | Sep 24, 2025 | Anxiety Stress and Panic Attacks

School Anxiety

The new term is well under way and whilst for many school is a positive learning experience, for others, the return to school or college means anxiety, worry, low self esteem issues and problems engaging.

Education is important and a school is a place of learning, growth and friendships. Yet for many secondary school and higher education students, it can be a source of anxiety, stress, overwhelm and frustration. There can be pressure to perform academically, friendship issues, fear of social situations, difficulty with focus, or issues such as bullying. Some students struggle with learning due to concentration issues, low self-confidence, academic stress, exam anxiety or motivation and consistency.

Limiting patterns of thinking and feeling can stop a student from doing their best and achieving their potential. For some, school anxiety stops them attending school at all. For others it may be particular subjects, lessons or tasks. When exam season arrives all of the anxiety and stress can feel like too much. I’ve helped so many students, who used to go blank in the exam room, to build calmness and confidence so they can apply what they know. And I’ve also helped many students who were struggling to even get into school or college in the first place due to how bad they were feeling in that environment.

However, rather than being an ongoing struggle, it is possible to feel calm, confident and in control over your own thoughts, feelings and behaviours as you learn. You can boost your focus and concentration. You can calm anxiety and stress. You can feel more confident in class and within your studies. Rather than being distracted, hypnotherapy can help you to overcome these obstacles so that you can get on with your learning and reach your potential. If you are struggling with school anxiety then don’t let that stress, doubt or anxiety hold you back any longer than it already has.

High Anxiety Levels in Cambridgeshire

by Dan Regan | Sep 18, 2025 | Anxiety Stress and Panic Attacks

High Anxiety Levels in Cambridgeshire

Whether it is you, or someone you love, mental health and anxiety levels in Cambridgeshire remain high.

The 2025 Cambridgeshire County Council Quality of Life report has now been published. There are some positives with reported happiness levels remaining high. However, nearly a third of people reported mental health issues, such as anxiety and depression. Loneliness issues were also reported and are likely to be a contributing factor, as well as a potential consequence, of anxiety and mental health issues.

Younger people were more likely to report mental health issues but, of course, anxiety and depression can affect anyone at any age and at any stage of life.

Having helped thousands of people with anxiety, and having been there myself, I know how limiting and debilitating it can be. Anxiety can take over your life. You overthink and feel physically unwell. If anxiety levels are high then you may not feel like doing anything at all. Everything is too draining and feels too overwhelming.

These figures only renew my determination to keep helping as many people as I can to feel better, whether through hypnotherapy sessions or from my hypnosis downloads (or both!).

If you are struggling right now then it may seem like you could never feel better. However, it certainly is possible to start feeling more calm, confident and in control again. You can break the negative spiral and start feeling better and better in yourself.

Hypnotherapy for Stress and Worry: New Review Video

by Dan Regan | Sep 7, 2025 | Anxiety Stress and Panic Attacks

Hypnotherapy for Stress and Worry: New Review Video

Today, I’m delighted to be sharing with you my latest hypnotherapy review video.

My passion is to help you to overcome your anxiety, stress and worry and to learn how to manage your own thoughts and feelings for life after your hypnotherapy sessions. When someone first comes to meet me for their free consultation, they tell me all about how anxiety and worry dominate their life. It can impact upon work, friendships and relationships. And most of all it impacts on your ability to feel comfortable in your own skin and to enjoy life.

There are the endless stressful thoughts about what might happen and whether you can cope with it. These thoughts can start to become more and more consistent and habitual until you struggle to switch off from them even when nothing is happening. You’ll already know all the tension, chest tightness, stomach issues and other physical sensations that you battle to live with. And it can impact upon your sleep, appetite, ability to make decisions and anxiety just stops you feeling happy, confident and in control of yourself.

I love when, after our hypnotherapy sessions together, people tell me how they feel so much better in themselves. You can see it in your eyes, in the smile on their face and in their more positive demeanour and conversation. By learning to orchestrate and direct your own thoughts, feelings and actions, you learn how to navigate life feeling better in yourself. You can nip things in the bud, focus on the positive and trust in your ability to handle whatever comes your way.

Some people struggle at the outset to believe they could get some amazing results from a few sessions of hypnotherapy with me. That’s why it’s so great to be able to show them the review videos and feedback from so many people who have successfully been through the journey. I’m always massively grateful to anyone who is kind enough to record a quick hypnotherapy review video as I know it inspires others who are currently struggling to take that first step towards feeling better.

Anxiety and Worst Case Scenarios: My Ely Standard Column

by Dan Regan | Sep 4, 2025 | Anxiety Stress and Panic Attacks

Anxiety and Worst Case Scenarios: My Ely Standard Column

Anxiety drives our mind to think in worst case scenarios. You imagine all sorts of potential future catastrophes, and the fear of these happening feeds back into your anxiety.

Your thoughts re-enforce your anxious feelings. And those anxious feelings drive your thoughts to think the worst. It becomes a self perpetuating loop that can be difficult to break free from. Hypnotherapy can help you to interrupt those habitual experiences that go on inside of you. You can take back control over your own thoughts and feelings so that you feel better and better in yourself.

My latest column for the Ely Standard is all about anxiety and worst case scenarios. By interrupting, diluting and changing the things going around and around inside your head, you can weaken the grip of anxiety, get a handle on things and start seeing things more clearly.

My article about anxiety and worst case scenarios is on the Ely Standard website for you to read here:

Anxiety: Facts and Imagination

by Dan Regan | Sep 1, 2025 | Anxiety Stress and Panic Attacks

Anxiety: Facts and Imagination

When it comes to anxiety, there is often the clash between facts and your imagination.

Your anxiety will have you conjure up all sorts of possibilities about things that could go wrong and how bad that would make you feel if it were to happen. Very often clients will tell me that they know what they are thinking is irrational or unlikely to happen in the catastrophic way they are thinking. Yet that doesn’t stop the unpleasant cycle of anxious thoughts and feelings from going around and around inside your head and body.

You feel anxious and that drives your mind to seek the threat. After all, to your mind if you are feeling that anxious then there must be something to be worried about. Your imagination will flow into all sorts of scenarios about what might happen in the future. There may be one specific thing that you are thinking the worst about. Or you may find that your anxiety can flow from one thing to the next with a sense of restlessness and dread.

As humans we are generally pretty rubbish at predicting the future and what will happen. I mean, just look back at science shows from thirty years ago who were predicting robots in every home and flying cars. We tend to lose sight of all the times we have worried that something bad was going to happen, only for things to turn out ok. We are only ever just taking a guess at how things will turn out.

Take the dentist for example. Who hasn’t stressed a bit before some upcoming treatment, only to leave thinking how it wasn’t as bad as expected. Or maybe you have a speech coming up and worry about freezing, or you worry about standing at an upcoming social occasion with no one wanting to talk with you. And despite these things generally going ok when they actually take place, the next time they come around, the same worry, anxiety and dread kicks back in. It’s like our brains don’t update and we forget that we are often mistaken in our predictions.

You feel anxious and imagine the worst. You scare yourself inside your own imagination. Your brain frantically responds to all of these perceived threats that go around inside your own head. Anxious thoughts lead to anxious feelings that leads to more anxious thoughts. The cycle continues to fuel itself again and again.

Yet it is very possible to break the pattern of anxiety, to start thinking more clearly and logically and so to feel calmer and more in control.

Help For Shy Bladder Syndrome

by Dan Regan | Aug 21, 2025 | Anxiety Stress and Panic Attacks

Help For Shy Bladder Syndrome – Hypnotherapy in Ely and Newmarket

Shy bladder syndrome, also known as paruresis, is an anxiety issue where you find yourself unable to urinate when there are other people there.

At home you’ll be totally fine, but in social settings, where other people can be there, it all becomes an anxious, stressful struggle. You need to pee, you go into the toilet and if there are others there, you simply can’t. If no one else happens to be there you can go fine. If it is a single, sole person toilet, you’ll be fine. Yet when others are there, it’s like your body freezes. You know you need to urinate but you either have to leave or you have to bide your time until other people have gone, while hoping no one else arrives (which may be impossible in busy places).

For some with shy bladder syndrome, the anxiety is only mild and can be managed. For others the use of public toilets is a constant challenge. You may find yourself watching to check if the toilet is likely to be empty of other people or checking the toilet locations beforehand. The fear of not being able to urinate when others are around can mean you just find it easier to avoid some social situations altogether.

As with all types of anxiety, there are the anxious thoughts and feelings that you have if you are in a situation where you can’t urinate in front of others, despite desperately needing to go. And then there is the anxious anticipation that you may find yourself in a future situation where you may need to go but can’t.

Shy bladder syndrome is a relatively common anxiety issue and one that I have helped many people to overcome. It can strike for men at urinals when someone else is also there, and it can apply to anyone in a public toilet cubicle if someone else is in the room.

New Mental Health Podcast Coming Soon

by Dan Regan | Aug 18, 2025 | Anxiety Stress and Panic Attacks, Hypnotherapy Hypnosis and NLP

New Mental Health Podcast Coming Soon

I’m excited to let you know that I have a new mental health podcast coming soon!

I’m super excited about this as it is something I have always wanted to do so that I can reach more people and help them with tackling issues such as anxiety, worry and overthinking. I’ve teamed up with the biggest community group in Ely and we’ll be working together to benefit people in the area. I can’t wait!

I’ll be sharing the link to episodes on here and it should sit nicely with my ongoing articles here and as an Ely Standard columnist. I want to help as many people as I can to overcome anxiety, boost confidence and take back control over their thoughts, feelings and behaviours.

Now I’ve just got to work out how to use the technology (including cutting out the bloopers I will undoubtedly make!) and I’ll be all set. I hope to get started in the Autumn and then develop and grow the mental health podcast each episode (so be kind at the start, ok?!)

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