Trauma can keep you trapped in a place you do not want to be. It can leave you emotionally, psychologically or physically paralysed. It can keep you stuck in unwanted patterns of thinking, behaving and reacting. This is because trauma triggers a survival response in us. This means that our primitive, reactive brain takes over and drives our responses. And because it’s primitive, it can’t come up with new ways of behaving.
Solution focussed hypnotherapy can help you to spend less time in survival mode or primitive brain, encouraging you to spend longer periods of time in your wise, intellectual mind that can think things through and come up with new ways of behaving. This means that you don’t have to keep playing the constant loop of trauma in you mind and body. It gives you breathing space. It allows you a chance to process things.
We can also take time to think about some of the practical skills that are critical in coping with trauma, such as those involved in emotion regulation, distress tolerance, mindfulness and communication. We can take time to think about the underlying beliefs that have developed in response to trauma and start unpicking these, shaping more helpful beliefs and thought patterns instead.
When you’re ready, and have more control over your primitive, survival responses, we can use regression to help you to fully process the trauma if this is what you want, allowing you to readjust your psychological and emotional barometer and feel more in control. Only you can decide if this further work is something you want or need to do. Generally, sufficient solution focussed hypnotherapy can reduce the flashbacks, heightened emotional responses and behavioural patterns enough for you to feel that you are coping so further processing is unnecessary for you.