At some point during our lives, most of us will experience traumatic experiences. And what do traumatic experiences cause? You’ve got it! Trauma.
Trauma is the word used to describe the behaviours your mind develops in order to cope with the experience that left your brain believing that your life was at risk.
I can’t promise you that I can make you forget the traumatic experience you’ve faced; But I can offer you the opportunity to work through the trauma with the aid of hypnotherapy – a successful and painless process that will enable you to revert your thought patterns and behaviours to a time before your trauma began.
Trauma and Hypnotherapy
There are three main types of trauma, each slightly different in cause and symptoms. What remains the same is the excellent results many clients see from undergoing hypnotherapy for following traumatic experiences. The three types of trauma include: acute, chronic and complex.
Acute Trauma
Acute trauma tends to result from a one-off incident that puts your life at risk (or at least causes your brain to think there’s a danger!).
Whilst a response to threat is vital to our survival, our nervous systems can continue to react as if the threat is still present. Examples of acute trauma may include: Serious accidents; Sudden or violent loss of a loved one; Assault; Natural disaster and other events that are limited in time.
If you’ve faced a traumatic event, and your brain hasn’t been able to process it, you may develop post-traumatic stress disorder. Hypnotherapy can give you a safe place to return to in your mind when working through your trauma and this can be done prior to any formal PTSD diagnosis. By contacting me sooner rather than later, you’re giving yourself the opportunity to face the negative memories plaguing your mind. Each time you find yourself struggling to cope as you work your way through the traumatic experience, you can revert back to your place of safety with my support.
Chronic Trauma
Chronic trauma is what’s known as a post-traumatic stress disorder and is when your brain becomes caught in a freeze-like response after repeated traumatic events. Examples of chronic trauma may include: War; On-going abuse or neglect.
It’s likely that you’ve heard of the “fight or flight” response. This is the amygdala in our brains protecting us against threats by either fighting back (like a tiger who’s threatened would do) or running away (much like a zebra). When your autonomic nervous system recognises the threat as being too big to run away from or fight, instead it will freeze. When a person faces on-going traumatic experiences, such as during war, the brain becomes unable to differentiate between safe and not safe, so remains on high alert in “freeze” mode in order to preserve itself from any threats.
Hypnotherapy can offer the opportunity for people suffering the effects of chronic trauma to be safe whilst working through their responses. Together, we work on reminding your brain that it’s ok to relax as it is no longer at risk of harm and we’ll revert your thought patterns back to a time before the traumatic experiences began.
Complex Trauma
Complex trauma is another type of post-traumatic stress disorder, often referred to as C-PTSD. To be diagnosed with complex trauma, a patient will often have suffered repeated abuse over and over during a long period of time. This will often be experienced at the hands of someone close to the victim, like a parent, caregiver or partner. Examples of complex trauma may include: Childhood abuse or domestic violence.
C-PTSD occurs when a person doesn’t see an escape – They can’t ever imagine being able to get away from the traumatic experiences they face so create coping mechanisms that are often unhealthy in order to survive the day. Some people may turn to drink or drugs, others may dissociate entirely or repress the trauma, essentially bottling up the emotions that arise.
As this type of trauma is caused by people who should keep us safe, the treatment can be more difficult to determine. Ideally, a magic wand that conjures up a loving home with all childhood needs met, however in the absence of a genie in a lamp, hypnotherapy can help. Where memories of a happier time are harder to come by, as is often the case with C-PTSD, you and I will work together to ensure your brain feels safe enough to begin to recover. This might be by imagining a safe place, or imagining your trauma as a dragon that you are equipped to slay. All clients of Piece of Mind Hypnotherapy receive a bespoke treatment plan, which means that we can work through your trauma at a pace that is comfortable for you.
Any traumatic experience is going to impact you, but the key for a happy and healthy life is to allow yourself the opportunities you need to recover from your trauma. It may be possible for you to hide your trauma for a time, but as so many of us know from experience, trauma has a way of showing itself at the most unwanted times.
To learn more about how hypnotherapy can support you in your journey to live life beyond your trauma, book a free consultation with me. Together, we can fight your demons.
Contact Piece of Mind today:
0141 340 9870
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