First Hypnosis Session

Today was my first hypnosis session . . . and I'm not quite sure what I think. Some of it was a little crunchy for me, and I'm not convinced that I really buy in to the whole concept yet, but I am committed to giving this my best try to see where it takes me. The good news is that she did not expect me to fall into some kind of a trance. She spent most of the time trying to have me focus on the events that triggered my phobia, and try to relive and discuss those feelings several times. I definitely expressed my emotions about the trigger events, but I can't say I feel like I made any progress. I guess I am not welling up with tears when I merely think about needing an IV, so we'll see. She believes that much of the root of phobias is unreleased anxiety that we spend years trying to suppress, and by letting us feel, experience and process our original emotions about the trigger event, we can release some of the fear and allow our rational mind to cope with the situation. She uses a lot of self-affirmations (and it is a good thing my eyes were closed because there were times I am sure I would have rolled my eyes). I'm going to go back for another session next week - supposedly we will focus this next session on the future - why I dread/fear/feel anxious about future needle interactions.