What Is Trauma?
Trauma occurs whenever you experience an emotional ‘crisis point’; meaning an emotion that is too intense for you to process in the moment. This can happen all at once (for example, a car accident or an assault), or over a longer period of time (sometimes days, weeks or even months of consistent stress that builds until it gets too much.) In whatever way it happens, once someone reaches this crisis point, their brain takes a detailed snapshot of their surroundings, and records it as a threat. From then on, any time they are in a situation that appears similar to that snapshot, their brain will deliver symptoms such as panic attacks, bursts of anger, sudden tears, avoidance of certain situations, and more. Sometimes the symptoms can be quite extreme, especially if the trauma is ‘compounded’, meaning that the person experiences the same, or similar crisis points multiple times.
How Do I Treat It?
Hypnosis, or trance, is a very common mental state in which the subconscious and the conscious mind communicate. Simply put, whenever we use our imagination, we are briefly entering trance. It is in these moments that we can help the subconscious unlearn its less helpful responses, and pick up new, more beneficial ones.
One of the most important things to say about trauma is the client does not need to disclose any details of what happened to them. In fact, I often find it is more helpful if they do not, because it prevents them from inadvertently reliving any distressing situations.
In cases where the client cannot mentally approach the traumatic memories without distress, I help them desensitise their reaction to the subject using somatic anchors, conversational techniques, and subconscious resolution to allow change to start occurring in a safe, emotionally objective way.
After this, I use the highly effective Rewind and Timeline therapies, which allows the brain to process the traumatic incidents as regular memories that no longer contain stress triggers. In the case of multiple traumatic events causing CPTSD, it will often only be necessary to treat the first, the worst, and the most recent trauma in order to change the existing fear pattern.
It is not unusual for the brain to develop thinking errors and negative self-beliefs as a result of experiencing trauma (e.g. “I’m not good enough/I’m broken”) and once the initial trauma pattern is resolved, we are able to re-learn flawed lessons. Clients are often able to let go of old guilt and embrace a more forward-thinking, positive attitude as a result of this.
My focus is always on safety and sustainability of success. You are never in a situation where you just have to ‘power through’ a difficult exercise, because the solution-focused approach is infinitely flexible and can be adapted to suit any preference. Together, we can help you create change in a comfortable fashion that will continue to work for you throughout the rest of your life.
During this process, you will go into trance a number of times. You will have full awareness and control of yourself in these moments, and will easily be able to communicate or stop if you feel uncomfortable. I use calming, neutral language and relaxation techniques to help make this process feel restful and rejuvenating, with clients often reporting a ‘refreshed’ feeling after a session is over.
Depending on the clients past experiences, this is generally done within 15 sessions at the most, although sometimes significantly fewer are required.
Side effects of treatment include:
- Improved sleep
- More energy
- Better capacity to make rational decisions
- Ability to stand up for yourself in an appropriate manner
- Feeling unencumbered, or ’lighter’
- Greater resilience in difficult situations
- Higher motivation towards your own personal goals
Please get in touch to find out more and book your FREE initial consultation.
