Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a series of symptoms and reactions that arise from a traumatic event that occurs in your life. Trauma can cause a person to disconnect from their internal sense of safety, causing them to have trouble managing their emotions. It is for that reason that people with trauma must seek help from a specialist to be able to properly deal with their situation.
Hypnotherapy has emerged as an effective, evidence-based treatment option for people who have PTSD. Using the power of suggestion, hypnotherapy can access the negative thoughts in your unconscious and promotes positive change.
Hypnotherapists will tailor techniques to manage specific symptoms and potential triggers. Hypnotherapy sessions can last between 60-90 minutes, while treating PTSD through hypnotherapy can take several weeks or months of sessions to complete.
What Are the Symptoms of PTSD?
People have different reactions to trauma. Feeling frightened and having flashbacks after the event is expected is one form of this. While most will recover a short while after the event, these trauma symptoms do not wane for some people, causing them to be extremely paranoid as time goes by.
PTSD is diagnosed when trauma symptoms persist over a long period and start hindering everyday life. One’s quality of life is reduced significantly because of it, and some even turn to drug addiction or even suicide to get away from it.
PTSD affects more than 30% of people who have traumatic experiences, and it can develop weeks, months, or even years after the event. It is not yet known why some people develop PTSD while others don’t.
The most common PTSD symptoms include:
- Re-experiencing the traumatic event (flashbacks, nightmares, even physical sensations)
- Panic attacks
- Difficulty with close relationships
- Feelings of hopelessness
- Hypervigilance
- Aggressive behaviour, volatile mood swings
- Self-harming behaviour
- Suicidal ideation
PTSD is a severe and complicated condition that requires the cooperation of multiple health professionals to determine the best treatment. Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT), Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), and drug therapies can be used along with hypnotherapy when treating PTSD.
Hypnotherapy divides the mind into the conscious and subconscious. These have different functions and are accessed by people in contrasting ways. When a person has PTSD, the brain’s natural process is disturbed. Memories of the traumatic event get stuck in the subconscious, leading to a fight or flight response triggered by some external stimuli.
How Does Hypnotherapy Help With PTSD?
The subconscious mind is more accessible when a person is in a state of hypnosis. Some effective hypnotherapy techniques for PTSD include:
Stress Reduction – The simple act of entering the hypnotic trance state can be a natural remedy for extreme PTSD symptoms. Regular stress reduction exercises can help reprogram destructive behaviour, reduce negative energy, and diminish the intensity of adverse physical reactions.
Controlled Access to Memories – For some victims, the hypnotised state can help them access and then process their traumatic memories. The source of trauma can be identified, the sense of helplessness acknowledged, and eventually reduce spontaneous intrusive memories.
Zeroing in on Triggers – Hypnotherapy can help identify triggers so the victim can prepare for specific situations. This is the first step in working to reduce the violent reactions to those triggers.
Conclusion
Hypnotherapy is based on accessing the subconscious, so it can be an effective treatment for hidden triggers and suppressed memories. Hypnosis’s relaxed state is a safe space where a skilled hypnotherapist can guide a person through healing triggers and processing traumatic memories. This way, PTSD symptoms can slowly be reduced until they no longer affect victims in the day-to-day.Are you looking for hypnotherapy for PTSD in Leeds? Paul Ramsden is dedicated to guiding clients to access higher consciousness through energy clearing, hypnosis for anxiety, and other such services. Services are provided face-to-face in Leeds or online. Get in touch with us today to book an appointment!
