Trauma/PTSD
If you are experiencing post-traumatic stress you will be familiar with the fight-or-flight response. At some point a life-threatening event will have triggered a powerful stress reaction. For example, you may have witnessed or been a victim of an accident, a natural disaster or been in a combat situation.
It is common after such a stressful event to experience upsetting memories, to feel as though the experience is being repeated, and have trouble sleeping and concentrating. If these symptoms persist for months or even years after the event you may be diagnosed as suffering from PTSD.
These are some of the symptoms commonly experienced by PTSD sufferers:
- Feeling constantly on edge.
- Nightmares and flashbacks or re-living the event with vivid memories.
- Avoiding people or places that remind you of the event,
- Experiencing depression with negative feelings such as guilt or lack of enjoyment.
There are many scientific studies which now show the effectiveness of Hypnotherapy as a treatment for PTSD.
Nightmares and flashbacks?
It can be very distressing for sufferers of PTSD to experience vivid frightening dreams re-living the event.
Flashbacks can feel as real as the event itself. These can be very disturbing and can occur at any time of the day, set off by a variety of triggers. Unfortunately, every time we have thoughts of the event, our body produces the chemicals of stress in response to those thoughts, to protect us. If the body is in this state often for prolonged periods we can find ourselves in a vicious circle of anxiety, not to mention being vulnerable to other stress related health issues.
Solution Focused Hypnotherapy helps you to improve your sleeping patterns which allows you to get more of the quality sleep you need to process the fearful thoughts and other negative thinking patterns. This is usually one of the first areas where you should notice improvement, quite early in your therapy. Solution Focused Hypnotherapy is a natural way to access the subconscious mind. This can help you to focus on where you want to be, and how you’d like to feel.
Feeling on edge all the time?
Our body responds to our thoughts. Even though the traumatic event may be in the past, just thinking about the event and thoughts relating to it can trigger a reaction in the mind and the body. This is your mind being hyper-vigilant and trying to protect you from any further trauma.
The stress response can cause sweaty palms, churning stomach, and an elevated heart rate… all designed to prepare you to fight off perceived danger, or run away from it. In this state, your body also produces chemicals to make you strong and brave, like cortisol and adrenalin.
While this might sound good, too much of these chemicals in the body for long periods, puts the other chemicals out of balance and slows down your immune and digestive systems. This in turn can make you sick or cause digestive problems. As well as feeling pretty uncomfortable, it can be difficult to switch off those fearful thoughts and relax.
Solution Focused hypnotherapy can help you to manage the symptoms of post-traumatic stress by helping you to understand why your anxiety occurs and how to learn to relax.
Whilst we respect and acknowledge the emotional pain and symptoms you are experiencing, the Solution Focused approach is not to focus too much on the event, as you are already thinking about it many times a day and often re-living the trauma. This can only serve to exacerbate your symptoms.
Instead we help you to relax and focus on the positives, creating new neural pathways. This minimizes the old thinking patterns over time, allowing you to find enjoyment in your life again.
Angry or tearful outbursts?
The fight/flight response associated with PTSD comes from the very primitive part of our brain. In trying to protect you from perceived danger, this primitive part triggers your body to release the chemicals of stress, which can make you defensive, snappy, angry or emotional. As well as making you feel out of control, this can also be distressing for colleagues and loved ones.
By utilizing the powerful state of Hypnosis and bringing you into a calm, relaxed state of focused attention, this therapy helps you to access your inner resources to help you feel better and get to where you want to be. Solution Focused Hypnotherapy helps you to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Hypnotherapy also helps you to empty your metaphorical stress bucket enabling you to find your own best solutions and be your best self.
Solution Focused Hypnotherapy is safe, natural and can be used to treat PTSD and Trauma alongside other medical therapeutic approaches you may be using in your approach to healing.
At Hill Hypnotherapy we treat you with respect and in a non-judgmental way. We take things at your own pace and work together with you in a collaborative process to find a way through the issues without delving into your past traumas or relationships.
Together, we look at what you want to achieve and how to get there rather than focusing on the problem.
There IS light at the end of the tunnel and you will ALWAYS be in control throughout the process. In fact our aim is to help you feel empowered, resilient and ready for your brighter future.