Have you thought about hypnotherapy for your driving test nerves?

If you struggle with driving anxiety or driving test nerves you may well have wondered if hypnotherapy can help.  Joline Saunders is the hypnotherapist we approached about this issue and Joline has created two hypnosis tracks especially for users of Confident Drivers which are available with a Confident Drivers subscription. 

Try the driving confidence self-hypnosis audio if you feel nervous in your driving lessons or if you are a nervous driver who has already passed their test. Or if you have your driving test booked and the nerves are beginning to kick in start to listen regularly to the driving test nerves hypnosis audio in the run-up to your test. Many of our subscribers listen to our audios the night before a driving test to calm nerves and get a good nights sleep. 

A Confident Drivers subscription gives you immediate access to both our Hypnotherapy audios plus our driving test nerves course and a range of techniques that calm driving anxiety.

Go to our help for learner driver nerves page to learn more about what else is included in a subscription alongside our driving self-hypnosis audios. We asked Joline for her top tips for driving test nerves to use alongside hypnotherapy and here is her blog:

I remember my driving test like it was yesterday - it was possibly the most nerve-racking experience of my life. I wanted to pass so badly. I wanted the freedom it would give me. I am completely amazed that I did pass as I literally was on the verge of a panic attack throughout what felt like hours. Which is why I want to share my tips for driving test nerves. When you are that nervous, making mistakes is so much easier to do as the reasoning, logical part of your brain is taken over by the emotional part. You mind switches to 'fight or flight' mode where you instinctively look for dangers and are on high alert - hence increased breathing and heart rate as your body prepares you to run or fight the foreseen danger. It's very difficult to be calm and methodical when you mind switches to this high-intensity state. Everything you've learned and practised seems to temporarily vanish from your mind and it's easy to become absorbed in thoughts about what might go wrong instead of focusing on what you want to happen. 

Breathing:   One of the first things that changes when we are anxious about something is our breathing. When we are nervous, we naturally begin to breathe more rapidly and usually, those breaths are shallow, chest breaths with the emphasis on breathing in. This is the body preparing you to fight or flight by increasing oxygen delivery to your muscles. However, the good news is you can help relax your mind and body very quickly by consciously breathing in the opposite way with the 7-11 breathing technique. If you were to practice for five minutes, maybe twice a day, consciously breathing in for the count of 7, then out for the count of 11, you will notice how quickly you calm down. You don't have to count but the important thing is that your out-breaths are longer than your in-breaths. Extending the exhale mimics the breathing of a relaxed, calm person and by doing this we are sending the message to our unconscious mind that all is well and to be calm. If you were to practice this a few times a day for a week, you find yourself naturally applying it when you feel yourself tensing up and quickly calming down. It's simple. no one needs to know you are doing it, yet it's very effective. You can even do it while you are driving to stay calm. 

Self Talk:  That internal chatter that we all have narrates how we feel. If we are telling ourselves, 'I'm going to fail', 'I'm going to make a mistake' etc, it activates anxious feelings. Instead get into the habit of telling yourself positive statements, such as 'I will pass easily', 'I've practised and I am a competent driver', 'I can do this'. Whatever feels right for you. Positive self-talk really can change how you feel, and the better you feel, the calmer and more confident you are, which means you are more likely to find the driving test easy to pass. Practise Ensure you've had plenty of practice and feel confident in your driving abilities as much as possible. The more you practise doing things correctly, the more your mind begins to absorb your learnings as an automatic behaviour and everything feels easy and natural. Remember when you were younger and you were learning to tie your shoelaces? It seemed really difficult at first but you practised and now you do it without thinking. 

Mental Rehearsal:  As well as doing physical practice, mentally rehearsing your driving test is a very powerful thing to do. Your brain reacts to your imagination as if it were real, so the more you imagine your driving test going exactly as you want it, the more likely that is going to happen in reality. Just take a few minutes each day to close your eyes and relax then imagine watching a movie of yourself during your test, with everything happening perfectly. Then imagine stepping into that movie, and being there, seeing out of your own eyes and imagine the whole process while associated, going perfectly well. The hypnosis audio included in this programme is designed to help you install a positive outcome into your unconscious minds - so that you will automatically and naturally feel calm and confident in your driving test.  If you can do, listen to it often. 

Joline Saunders has written this guest blog and is the creator of the two hypnotherapy audios for driving confidence and driving test nerves which are included in the membership area of the website. Joline works from a clinic Moreton-in-Marsh in the beautiful Cotswolds and also online by Skype or Zoom to work with her on a one-to-one basis visit her website. You can read more from Joline on the About Us page. 

Now that you know more about Joline's top tips for driving test nerves you can also find more ideas for how to manage driving test nerves in our Ultimate Guide to Driving Test Nerves.  You can access Joline's hypnotherapy audios for driving test nerves and driving confidence with a learner driver subscription

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If you would like some self-help stress management resources to help you tackle your driving anxiety and improve driving confidence then our calming kit is created by leading industry experts especially for you.  Access to all the resources is online.

These plans are created specifically for drivers and learner drivers looking for online solutions to manage driving nerves and anxiety.  We also have a range of group plans created for driving instructors who would like to offer support offroad to their learner drivers, you can find more details on our ADI page.

Take a browse around our blog for articles written to help learner drivers and driving instructors recognise the most common reasons for experiencing driving nerves and confidence issues.  Each article offers strategies and suggestions that may help you.