Experiencing meta-emotions.

A meta-emotion is an emotion that occurs in response to another emotion. For example, you may have a fear of heights and refuse to go to high places, and then feel ashamed because you have the fear. This secondary feeling is the meta-emotional response.

Meta-emotional experiences are part of our daily lives, but unfortunately we do not always recognise them as such. You may have reprimanded the kids because they deserved it, but then you feel guilty because you did. This is a negative response to a positive action, which may lead to stress and anxiety. The next time the kids misbehave you might be reluctant to chastise them because you know the guilt feelings that may follow, which indicates that you are upset or angry about your own negative emotions.

Exactly the same principles can be applied if you have a fear of public speaking which results in meta-emotions of anxiety, stress, and a lack of confidence.

How to deal with meta-emotions.

Studies have shown that meta-emotions can be negative or positive, and that a better understanding of these emotions can help people respond to them in a way that will potentially improve their psychological and mental well-being.

Experts agree that the best way to do this is by means of hypnosis which is able to access the subconscious mind and help to establish which emotions you are feeling, before trying to change the way you react to these emotions. 

In this article we are focusing on a fear of public speaking, and the meta-emotions this particular fear can inspire. 

How hypnosis can help you.

Mental health practitioners are in agreement that most fears are rooted in the subconscious mind, and many are dragged with us from the past. The key to success is to allow hypnotherapy to help identify and eliminate past, as well as present fears.  

Your job might require that you often have to make presentations in front of folk which may include strangers, or you might have to speak at company meetings – ideas which fill you with dread. The meta-emotions you experience can be those of embarrassment that you could make a fool of yourself, anxiety, and even anger or guilt because you have so little self-confidence. 

In effect, you are dealing with feelings about feelings, and there is a sense of panic because you have no idea how to properly respond to them. Each time you are called upon to speak, the anxiety builds up and becomes a never-ending cycle of stress.

Hypnotherapy can help you in the following ways:

·      The therapist is able to access the subconscious mind and establish the issues which lead to panic and anxiety, low self-esteem, and lack of confidence.

·      This could be in the form in baggage rom the past when an idea was planted in your mind that you will never be a success at anything you do, resulting in an inferiority complex and no confidence.

·      The negative meta-emotion responses which are in the subconscious mind can be eliminated, and replaced with a new mindset and set of behaviours by hypnotherapy.

·      Hypnosis can teach you to believe in yourself, and step by step rebuild your self-esteem and self-confidence, and deal effectively with any lingering anxiety or panic.

In the future, when you are confronted by the prospect of having to speak in public, you will be able to react differently if any of the old fears arise, and your meta-emotions response will be positive that you can cope.

The key to success is to allow hypnosis to get rid of bad memories and incorrect ideas from the subconscious mind, so that you can move forward and achieve your goal of mastering public speaking.