Understanding Hypnotherapy

As most people are aware, the human mind consists of both the conscious and the subconscious components. In a healthy mind they work alongside each other and can be thought of as logic and emotion with the conscious mind being logic. This is because it controls the analytical part of us that sees reason in chaos.

Hypnosis deals with the subconscious component as it is here that 90% of our memories are stored and with them the associated emotions.

Each experience creates an emotion and when this is an unpleasant emotion your body naturally sends signals to the subconscious and marks it as unwanted. Therefore, the mind will forever protect the person from feeling that way again with various defense mechanisms which will sometimes only come in to play years later due to a trigger. Even though, the initial cause could have happened years prior. This is how disorders such as social anxiety, or other fear based issues, can occur and develop over time. It is simply the mind raising awareness of the “danger” and attempting to protect the person from what is seen as a threat, because the associated emotions suggest danger. Protection from danger is a vital part of the mind’s function.

Recently I saw a lady who was literally bent over in pain, once in a trance state I asked her subconscious to bring to her awareness the purpose of her pain. It transpired that she felt guilty about something she had done thirty years earlier. I continued to help her retain the lesson of the experience and let go of the emotions attached to the event. At the end of the session, she stood upright and walked out totally pain free and I have no idea what happened to her thirty years before because the details are irrelevant, the focus is on clearing the triggers.

The fear itself is not the issue, but the false triggers, just like the way an allergic reaction works. The fact that your body is fighting a perceived danger is good but because the “danger” is not a threat, the reaction is only self destructive and this is essentially what happens with anxiety, panic attacks and fears. Thinking back a few thousand years ago when encounters in the wild were a part of everyday life, it is clear how essential fear is. It allows the body to think and run faster, therefore making the body more effective in avoiding danger.

With hypnotherapy the fear itself isn’t removed as much as the trigger, so in other words hypnotherapy allows the mind to reassess what is a real danger. This is done by resolving deeply negative emotions in the state of hypnosis. By mellowing the emotional reaction both parts of the mind can work more cooperatively, which would make sense with the way logic seems to disappear in times of panic. The therapy therefore allows logical reasoning during events which would have previously been a source of stress.

Although it would seem this is only applicable in times of anxiety and fear, it is also very relevant to struggles regarding bereavement and loss. Besides for anxiety being a common result of grief, the process of defusing unwanted emotions remains. This allows hypnotherapy to help a person through the aftermath of devastating loss and to channel the experience in a way that is only beneficial. Rather than getting stuck in the past, as it is so easy to do, the person is free to move on with memories void of grief.

A lady who had lost her very close friend, several years prior to coming to me, found it really hard to enjoy life, she had no idea why she felt so stuck especially as she was generally a strong, confident lady. Through the hypnotherapy sessions she discovered that losing her friend made her feel insecure. Exploring the very first time she felt that emotion took her back to her three year old self when she had been deeply hurt by someone she trusted. By safely revisiting this memory she was helped to overcome the negative emotions attached to her experience, thereby freeing her from those feelings of insecurity. When I saw her two weeks later, she spoke of how much it had helped her move on, she was now able to think of her friend and even do nice things in her memory whereas before that she would have had a melt down.

We go through many cycles of bereavement and loss during our lives. Whether it is the loss of finances, a loved one, a job, a relationship breakup. Being able to move forward in a healthy way is empowering and gets you from surviving to thriving.

Have you experienced loss in your life and are struggling to move on?

Get in touch for a free consultation yg@trancework.co.uk

or www.trancework.co.uk/contact

Yocheved Gershon is a Trauma, Anxiety and Bereavement Specialist.

Qualified and Professional Hypnotherapist and NLP Life Coach Changing lives all over the world.