In a recent article The Guardian reported that across Britain, thousands of families are supporting young people through what has been dubbed an “epidemic of anxiety”. Warning signs in children range from excessive clinginess or tearfulness to persistent worrying and negative thoughts, avoiding going out, angry outbursts, and trouble eating or sleeping. One study by researchers at University College London found diagnoses of anxiety disorder in 18 to 24 year olds trebled between 2008 and 2018, and it is estimated up to 19% of children and young people are affected.

Lockdown was an anxious time for many families and some children struggled to readjust to the busy outside world once it was over. Now mental health services can’t keep pace with demand. For many families, the big hurdle is recognising that anxiety can’t always be “cured” so much as managed.

How I Treat Anxiety

At Behavioural Freedom, I use a skills-based model for treating anxiety. During our sessions, I will teach you relaxation techniques and helpful ways in which you can fundamentally and positively change the way you behave, think and act. It’s also important to note here that you can’t be stressed or suffer from anxiety when you are in a relaxed state. The skills you’ll learn during your time with me will be vital to both your on-going treatment and perhaps more so as you leave my care.

A combination of Applied Relaxation and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy is considered by the British Medical Journal to be one of the most effective therapies to alleviate anxiety and put you on a path to having a positive mind-set and being able to live life to the fullest, free of worries. By combining both and adding in the element of hypnosis, I believe this is the most effective, pragmatic and relevant approach to the treatment of anxiety.

Please contact me today to start the journey back to behavioural freedom.

About me

I’m Gillian Wingard. For 25 years I worked in the fast-paced, continually-changing corporate world of sales and recruitment as a senior manager. I witnessed first-hand how stress and anxiety in such a pressure-cooker environment affects people at all levels. That’s why I started Behavioural Freedom.

That notwithstanding, I have also struggled personally with workplace stress and anxiety, how it feels and how to effectively treat it and my life experiences make me the perfect person to work with you to relieve whatever issues are stopping you from living a full, happy and worry-free life.

I studied Hypnotherapy and specifically Hypno-CBT, the combined use of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and Hypnosis at the UK College of Hypnosis and Hypnotherapy and the course is centred fundamentally on modern psychological approaches.