Posted by The Therapist on 17/4/2011, 7:50 pm, in reply to "Re: Methods of help"

As I have posted elsewhere I am a hypnotherapist who suffered AP for 20 years. I would very much agree with Andrews assessment. Hypnosis alone will not have much affect on AP. It had a negligible effect on me. Systematic desensitisation is taught in hypnotherapy for phobias and that part of it can help and the relaxation part can help also. However it was when I went on to study CBT and try it on my pauresis that I made great progress and now the AP has almost completely gone. Exposure therapy combined with behavioural experiments to test your negative thoughts and beliefs (identified in the cognitive bit of CBT) really help prove to your mind that there is no danger. When your mind realises there is no danger (of humilation) it will allow your body to urinate. I have only treated myself for pauresis but I have treated clients for Social Anxiety Disorder (which pauresis is a type of) and I have seen great change in them from the behavioral experiments. Hypnotherapy is great for specific phobias.I have cured clients of flying phobias and blood phobias in about 3 sessions but I think your best bet for pauresis is to see a CBT practitioner or even better do the course offered on this site. Pauresis isn't very well known in the psychotherapy community because unfortunately people are usually too embarassed to seek help for it.When I did my CBT training I came across some very experienced psychotherapists of various types and was amazed that none of them had heard of it.

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