Compulsive Buying Disorder; Is Hypnotherapy the Answer?

Compulsive Shopping

So as we head into Christmas a lot of us also head into the grand experiment of spending huge amounts of money on friends, family and ourselves. It’s supposed to be “fun”, but for most, this is one of the most stressful times of the year for many of us.

Our routines are disrupted, often being forced to take time off work, spending time with extended family who, whether we love them or not definitely disrupt our normal daily patterns.

The Financial Burdens Of Christmas

I thought that I might take a moment to talk about the financial burden part of Christmas a bit more though. Specifically, I thought I might talk a bit about that moment of pleasure we receive when we put down a deposit or pay in full for an item that we cannot afford and how hypnosis might help reign in those impulse buys.
We picture that affirmation of love we get when the kids tear open the wrapping paper. We picture that moment of smugness when we outdo 'such and suches' gift.

We picture that small flutter of excitement as our bank balance depletes itself, mistaking that moment of tension as excitement.

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Photo by Roberto Nickson on Unsplash

Battling With Our Own Minds

Of course, rationally we know that spending money we don't have or money that should be going to other things is a terrible idea. If only our rational mind was the only part of us that made these snap decisions.

But it's not! It's like the old wisdom to never go grocery shopping when you are hungry. If your stomach does the shopping you end up buying far more than you need! It's the same thing with so-called 'retail therapy.'

Unless you have a bottomless wallet spending money to make yourself feel better is a bad habit that is almost worse than gambling because there isn't even the promise of a potential return.

Compulsive Buying Disorder

Our house fills up with things we don't need or duplicates of things we already have. Our friends get lavish gifts they may or may not appreciate, possibly even resenting because they feel they have to reciprocate.

Intellectually we know all this. We know that a dollar saved is a dollar earned. We know that maxing out the credit cards is going to stress us out far more than we will be rewarded by spending it! It's like there's a part of us that doesn't care and just goes ahead anyway.

There are all sorts of strategies to cope from leaving the credit cards at home or only carrying cash but there are all sorts of moments of weakness, especially in the age of internet shopping when we can buy at the click of a button.

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Hypnotherapy To Reign In Compulsive Behaviour

This is where hypnosis can step in. Hypnotherapy is better at breaking the chains of bad habits than any other method we know. We already know that it's the most effective way to give up smoking. We are coming to realise that it's the most effective method for staying the path to long term weight-loss and managing eating habits.

What we don't always realise is that hypnotherapy is really good at derailing all sorts of bad habits and patterns of behaviour. Compulsive shopping is just another one of those.

For more information on how hypnotherapy can help you, reach out and let’s connect.

Daniel
Advanced Clinical Hypnotherapist
Wellington, New Zealand