Hypnosis consultations for the Symptoms of Anxiety
Anxiety has one cruel particularity: it does not need anything to actually happen (whereas stress answers a real pressure and leaves once that pressure passes).
Anxiety runs on empty: it anticipates, it imagines, it prepares for the worst of a danger that is not there.
You can feel anxious on a perfectly quiet Sunday afternoon, and that is exactly what makes it so exhausting, and so badly understood by the people around you.
Our practitioners equip you anywhere in Quebec, in our offices or online, with one clear aim: to give you tools to better manage the symptoms of anxiety.
What we do, and what we do not do
Anxiety is a normal, universal emotion: a useful anticipation system, the one that makes us study for an exam or check that the door is locked. Everyone feels it.
It is that lived experience our hypnosis support can help with: managing the tension and the rumination better, sleeping better…
But when anxiety becomes invasive and persistent and gets in the way of daily life, you are in territory that belongs to health.
In Quebec, psychotherapy is a reserved act, restricted to psychologists, doctors and holders of a psychotherapist's permit. We are neither doctors, psychologists, nor psychotherapists: our services are rooted in helping relationships and well-being.
We make no diagnosis, we support no health condition, and we never replace follow-up.
Why say it so directly? Because it is a mark of seriousness.
If your situation calls for a doctor or a psychologist, we will tell you at the first contact and point you there. Our work can then come alongside theirs, with the agreement of your health professionals. That combination often works very well.
For the full mechanism: the guide on solutionshypnose.com.
Anxiety or stress? The sorting that changes the work
The two words often get used as synonyms, wrongly so.
- Stress answers a real, present pressure: a deadline, an overload, a conflict… and settles once the situation is resolved (see Stress Management).
- Anxiety anticipates a vague danger and carries on spinning even when everything is fine: it is the mind manufacturing "what ifs".
Each one feeds the other, and many people live with both.
Our first conversation is there precisely to sort out which one dominates for you.
How anxiety shows itself
Anxiety is more than "worrying"
And that is worth saying, because many people do not recognise themselves in the word even though they live it fully. Here are the symptoms of anxiety you are most likely to meet:
- In the head: rumination going round in loops, systematically expecting the worst, being unable to picture the future calmly, hypervigilance (scanning everything, watching for danger), difficulty deciding, the need to control everything, and that mind that restarts the moment your head hits the pillow.
- In the body: a knot in the stomach, a tight throat, chest tightness, a racing heart, short breath, tense muscles, clammy hands, digestive trouble, tiredness that never lifts. These are real, anxiety is not "all in your head" (MedlinePlus, NIH).
One absolute rule, though: never put a physical symptom down to anxiety without medical advice. Palpitations or chest tightness deserve a check-up — often reassuring, sometimes revealing something else that can be treated.
- In behaviour: avoidance, above all. You turn down an invitation, you do not take that train, you put off that call. Every avoidance brings relief in the moment and strengthens the anxiety in the long run: it is the central mechanism that makes the problem grow — and one of the most useful levers in the work.
Surges of anguish
Some people go through sharp episodes: a racing heart, the breath cut short, the feeling that something serious is happening. It is striking, often terrifying, and it does subside.
A first occurrence calls for a medical consultation.
After that, no longer being afraid of the fear changes a great deal.
What hypnosis brings to managing the symptoms of anxiety
What hypnosis eases, in practice
- Bringing the body back to calm: the hypnotic state activates the nervous system of relaxation, the one anxiety keeps at arm's length. Every session is practice at returning to it, and the capacity strengthens like a muscle.
- Making you self-sufficient: self-hypnosis, learned from the first sessions, takes a few minutes to call on before a meeting, at bedtime… It is the heart of the approach.
- Quieting the spinning mind: rumination is a mental habit, and it can be reworked. It is not about "not thinking" (that does not work), but about no longer being carried away.
- Defusing the anticipation and taking the charge out of the dreaded scenarios.
- Stepping out of avoidance, gradually, in imagination first, at your own pace.
- Sleeping better, because anxiety and sleepless nights feed one another (see Sleep).
When to see a doctor without waiting
A few clear markers:
- if anxiety gets in the way of your daily life (work, relationships, going out);
- if physical symptoms persist (palpitations, chest tightness, digestive trouble);
- after a first panic episode;
- if anxiety comes with a collapsed mood or a loss of drive that lasts;
- if you use alcohol or other substances to keep going.
Info-Santé 811 can point you in the right direction at any time, and the Guichet d'accès à la première ligne gets you an appointment if you have no family doctor.
A word about a reality here: the wait to see a professional can be long, and many people write to us during that wait. We can equip you in the meantime — sleep, calm, self-hypnosis — but it does not replace the appointment: keep your medical process going.
What our clients say
« I feel so privileged to have met Annie. From our very first phone call, I felt I could trust her, that I was heard and well supported. Annie helped me calm my distress and anxiety about my last trip abroad. She followed me closely for a few weeks, with frequent sessions. She is helping me grow inwardly and emotionally. I highly recommend her services. »
Edith, client of Annie Mayrand
« A very attentive professional. I felt at ease with Florence right away, and my anxiety symptoms eased from the very first session. As a first experience with hypnosis, it was a success! Thank you! »
Marie, client of Florence Aton
« My experience with hypnosis with Sanae was truly transformative. I started the session with deep anxiety, particularly tied to the fear of fainting in public. During the hypnosis session, something incredible happened. My mind, in that altered state of consciousness, became much more receptive to new suggestions and perspectives. It was as if, thanks to hypnosis, my brain had been able to reprogram some of its automatic reactions, the ones that made me fear and avoid things... »
Amer, client of Sanae Belgarch
« Florence takes the time to understand what's wrong, she's very attentive. The first session already did me good in calming my anxiety, I can't wait for the second one! I recommend her 100% »
Tatya, client of Florence Aton
« I met Mr. Jean-Marie Balestrat only once. Even so, he managed to help me. First, he asked me questions to really understand my anxiety problem. He gave me an honest answer about what he could and couldn't do. During our single meeting, he still managed to give me tools (visualization, and how to recognize and respond to signs of anxiety) that not only reassured me, but really helped me react during a crisis. »
Stephen, client of Jean-Marie Balestrat
« My visit with Nuria Pérez de León was excellent! She has a very calming voice and put me at ease right away — I was a little nervous at first, as I'd never tried hypnosis! My experience with hypnosis brought great results, and thanks to her, I no longer suffer from anxiety! I would highly recommend her to my family and friends! »
Mark, client of Nuria Perez de Leon
« Wow, thank you Rachelle! A good listener, she managed to settle my anxiety and bring me back into balance. Therapeutic hypnosis: I highly recommend it. »
Jean-Pierre, client of Rachelle Letarte
« SHE IS AMAZING MY ANXIETY HAS DECREASED SO MUCH IT TAKES A HUGE WEIGHT OFF MY SHOULDERS. THANK YOU ANNIE 🌞🤗 »
Michelle, client of Annie Mayrand
« During a period of great vulnerability, when I experienced capital-A Anxiety for the first time, hypnotherapy was a huge support in helping me find peace again... You have to live it to believe it! Thank you Marjorie! »
Karine, client of Marjorie Gilbert
Consult a Hypnotherapist near you
In Office or Online Across Canada
Offices in Montreal, Gatineau, Sherbrooke, Montérégie…
And if you live far away or elsewhere in the world, online sessions work very well. Evening slots available.
All areas
Annie Mayrand
Gatineau - Cumberland (ON)
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Christian Rocher
Beloeil
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David Veilleux
Montréal - Anjou
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Florence Aton
Sutton
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Jessica Reid
Sherbrooke
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Julie Rocque
Montréal - Jean-Talon
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Nuria Pérez de León
Montréal - Rosemont - Saint-Lambert
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Romain Rastoin
Bromont
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Réjeanne LeBlanc
La Prairie
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Frequently asked questions about hypnosis for managing the symptoms of anxiety
No. We are professionals of the helping relationship and well-being, and psychotherapy is a reserved act in Quebec. We make no diagnosis. If your situation belongs with a psychologist or a doctor, we will tell you at the first contact. That is our mark of seriousness, not an awkward limit.
Yes, on the day-to-day experience: settling the body, quieting the mind, sleeping better, learning self-hypnosis. But let us be clear: it does not replace the appointment you are waiting for, and you should not cancel it. Info-Santé 811 remains available at any time if your situation gets worse.
Yes, alongside it. It is in fact a common and often helpful combination.
Two rules: tell us about your follow-up, and never stop or change a treatment without your prescriber.
Our work is about day-to-day life (tension, rumination, sleep, avoidance); medical decisions belong to your doctor, who is worth telling about your approach.
That is neither for us nor for you to decide: see a doctor.
It is an absolute rule in our practice: a physical symptom deserves a check-up before being put down to anxiety.
Most of the time the check-up reassures, and that relief already brings the anxiety down. Sometimes it reveals something else, which can be treated. Either way, you gain.
No, and be wary of anyone who claims it.
First because anxiety is a normal emotion that is not "cured": the aim is for it to become proportionate again.
And because a diagnosed anxiety disorder belongs with medical or psychological care.
What hypnosis does well: easing the symptoms, quieting the mind, restoring sleep, and making you self-sufficient, alongside follow-up if you have any.
Usually four to eight, with relief often felt in the first few.
Stability comes with practicing self-hypnosis in between, which is what makes the results last. No endless series of sessions: your self-sufficiency is the goal, and we say so from the start.
To go further
- Stress management: when the pressure is real and present.
- Performance stress: when the apprehension comes up against something being assessed.
- Sleep and insomnia: breaking the anxiety and sleepless-nights circle.
We are neither doctors, psychologists, nor psychotherapists. Our services are rooted in helping relationships and well-being: they constitute neither a diagnosis, nor treatment, nor psychotherapy (a reserved act in Quebec), and in no case do they replace medical or psychological care. If you are suffering psychologically, see a doctor or a psychologist: Info-Santé 811. In distress: 1 866 APPELLE (1 866 277-3553) or suicide.ca.
Page written by Jean-Marie Balestrat
hypnotherapist and NLP coach
partner at Solutions Hypnose.
English version reviewed by David Veilleux
Published .