Starting a new adventure - the academic year begins!

What are your dreams and expectation of university?

As the 2024-25 academic year begins you may be embarking on your dream course, or maybe you have all sorts of expectations of what university life will be like. Give yourself time to settle in, make friends, socialise - your social network (and by that I mean in-real-life friends and colleagues!) will provide you with the base from which to celebrate the good stuff and cope with the problems in life.

Here are a few of the common issues many students find can end up occupying their time more than they would want - if that’s the case do something about it; don’t let these issues define your time at university - they don’t need to, with the right help:

• Do you spend a lot of time worrying about how well you are doing?

• Do you constantly compare yourself with others

• Do you sometimes ‘feel’ like an impostor or ‘not good enough'?

• Do you work late into the evening/night and have trouble getting up in the morning?

• Do you procrastinate e.g.scrolling through YouTube videos, because of a sense of overwhelm?

• Do you get anxious about deadlines, exams, giving presentations, working in groups?

• Are you a perfectionist and find it difficult to judge when something is good enough to submit (or even can’t comprehend the idea of ‘good enough’).

• Do you feel anxious, angry or sad about the future and climate change or loss of the natural world (experience eco-anxiety)?

Is this causing you distress or difficulty in coping with your studies or life more generally? Then elsewhere on this website and blog you will find some useful resources that can be a starting point for you to begin to understand what might be going on and how cognitive behavioural hypnotherapy might be suitable for you. See for example:

• Worry - what is it and how to deal with it?

• Procrastination - a waste of time?

• Unwritten rules - I should, I must, I need......

• Perfectionism - the modern scourge?

• Social anxiety in class?

• The lost art of taking notes!

• A sense of ‘Self’ - your own identity

• Use ‘active revision’ to re-frame your approach to exams

• Exams - it's all about technique!

• Learning, assessment and exams – a mindful approach

Don’t hesitate to reach out; I offer significant discounts for students on fees and often a lot can be achieved in relatively few sessions - see Fees.

For those of you doing a PhD or other doctoral research, then you may find my blogs on this useful (I work with PhD students a lot):

• Anxiety and depression among PhD students

• Rising to the mental health challenges of doing a PhD

And if the climate crisis causes you anxiety or distress contact me directly for some one-to-one sessions; see my webpage and blogs on eco-anxiety.

If you’re into sport and maybe would like to improve your performance or just want to build confidence in your sport then sports hypnosis might be for you - check out my webpage on this if so.

Set out with the aim to enjoy yourself at university; if you find yourself struggling then do reach out.

Bill Sheate, 1 October 2024