A hypnotherapy author once observed that two of the main problems that cause concern to people in therapy can be boiled down to stress management and a positive self-image. It occurs to me that those issues may in fact be related. After all, it’s hard to be confident and self-assured if you’re constantly experiencing stress and anxiety in your life. But self-confidence goes even deeper than that. We have to believe that we are worthwhile and as deserving of a good life as anyone else. The problem is that some of our negative beliefs about ourself may be subconscious. They may have been acquired completely unconsciously as a result of challenging family or environmental circumstances as we were growing up for example. That is why hypnotherapy provides an effective way to change those negative patterns.