Former England cricketer Kevin Pietersen’s revelations about the bullying and stress he suffered in recent years playing for the national team bring the benefits of hypnotherapy back into the spotlight. 
Pietersen said, while on the BBC promoting his autobiography, that bullying was rife in the team’s dressing room, saying the bullying culture was evident where players were forced to apologise if they made mistakes in the field.
He, and former captain Michael Vaughan, mentioned a ‘bowlers’ cabal’ which had been a problem for several years.
Vaughan said: “The likes of Graeme Swann and Stuart Broad have been disrespectful to fielders.”
In an interview on the BBC, Pietersen mentioned how he and others were put under pressure to perform which lead to increased stress and anxiety.
When he discovered that a parody twitter account about his cricketing originated in the team dressing room, Pietersen said he was ‘completely broken, absolutely finished, mentally shot’.
His stress and anxiety is not then only case within the team. Players like Marcus Trescothick and Jonathan Trott have also suffered and even withdrawn from tours as stress and anxiety has led to severe depression.
However, hypnotherapy can help in such cases. The National Council for Hypnotherapy (NCH) is the UK’s leading hypnotherapy professional association and has more than 1,800 qualified therapists on its register.
And stress and anxiety is not limited to sports people only.
Today, about one in seven people are suffering from stress or anxiety at any one time in the UK. And while some people manage, more and more people are showing signs of over-anxiety, which leads to stress, which can make a significant impact on the quality of life and wellbeing.
Anxiety and stress can manifest itself differently for everyone but common physical signs of anxiety or stress include, a racing heartbeat, shortness of breath, a dry mouth, sweating, nausea and even panic attacks.
A session with a hypnotherapist can help assess the anxiety, identifying the root of stress or anxiety whether it is a situation, a physical issue, a past experience or a relationship.
With the objective of overcoming this issue, the therapist will work with the client to reach their goals using a range of different techniques. Therapists may use slightly different techniques but will be working towards the same goal of achieving confidence, clarity of thought and a more relaxed approach.
Many people say that they are calmer and that they have more clarity of thought – able to make decisions more easily after hypnotherapy sessions – ass if hypnotherapy unlocked the potential to break free of negative thought patterns, and to react more positively and more confidently to situations.