The One Terrific Trauma-Busting Hypnosis Technique
Today I’d like to talk about the ‘T’ word - and by that I mean, that dark beast we call trauma.
Trauma comes in many different forms and can have a profound impact on our lives. Of course, there are the severely traumatic events that no human should ever experience. Then there are the big traumas such as a financial crisis, career change or being separated from loved ones. Less severe yet still traumatic could be that time in school when someone said something nasty that still haunts you all these years later.
The fact is, any and all of these kinds of traumas can affect both our mental and physical health in the short and long term. Trauma can cause feelings of stress, depression and anxiety, increase our physical reactivity, negatively impact our sleep, interrupt our sensory responses…the list of unwanted side effects goes on and on.
Helping through hypnosis: How hypnotherapy can assist with trauma
As the saying goes, “change your view, change your life”. And this adage could easily apply to the role of hypnosis in managing the trauma response. By “changing your view” - in other words, by shifting your thoughts, behaviours and response - you can “change your life” and move forward towards your goals and dreams.
Hypnosis for trauma can be incredibly successful because it draws on a combination of dissociation and relaxation techniques. You can think of this as a positive double whammy for your brain, allowing you to process and address traumatic events in a safe environment while freeing yourself from the control that trauma has over your mind and your life.
Without wanting to get too ‘sciencey’, it can also help to understand that hypnosis for trauma often involves techniques designed to tap into the conscious and unconscious - also referred to as the dominant and non-dominant hemispheres of the brain.
I won’t bore you with all the technical details here, but it’s a fascinating process that involves recognising the asymmetries in the patient’s brain and communicating with the unconscious mind while the patient is in a hypnotic trance. By communicating with the unconscious mind in this way, a trained hypnotherapist can safely address traumatic experiences.
The Terrific Trauma-Busting Hypnosis Technique You Need to Know
If you’re experiencing the effects of trauma, this hypnosis technique is for you. It’s designed to help you take back control of your mind and show trauma who’s boss.
This hypnosis practice is known as the double dissociation techniqu developed by John Grinder. It’s incredibly simple and you can literally do it anywhere - so why not give it a try right now and tap into that amazingly powerful brain that’s ready to help you kick trauma in the nuts (metaphorically speaking!).
To begin, I want you to imagine you’re sitting on a couch watching TV. And I want you to get really comfy - that’s right, sit all the way back, spread out and feel yourself settling into that big soft couch.
Now, you’re going to float out of your body and sit behind yourself watching TV. Take a look at yourself sitting there comfortably, like a blissed-out couch potato! You look incredibly relaxed, don’t you?
Congratulations, you’ve now completed the first dissociation. There’s the ‘real you’ who’s watching TV and the ‘ghost you’ who’s observing you from behind.
Now, I want you to float out of the ghost you, sideways. Stand to the side of ghost you and watch them watching the real you who’s sitting on the couch. Still with me? Good.
The ghost you is totally absorbed in observing the real you sitting on the couch. And now you’re here on the side, completely immersed in watching ghost you. Wow, you’ve now double disassociated - look at you go, you DD pro!
Although you can’t see the TV screen (because you’re totally focused on watching ghost you watching real you on the couch), know that on the screen, your trauma is being shown in black and white.
And as you watch ghost you, you can see they’re really impressed with whatever real you is doing while watching TV. Why? Because real you is calmly flicking through the channels, adjusting the brightness, playing background music - and ghost you is amazed at what a great job real you is doing at being a couch potato!
Take a moment to focus on how impressed ghost you is right now. It’s fascinating to watch!
And with that, you’ve completed the double dissociation technique. In doing so, you’ve created enough distance to achieve a new perspective. You’re slaying this hypnosis technique - and slaying your trauma at the same time.
Which is a good time to remind you that you have all the tools you need right there in your own mind to slay everything in life. To achieve your dreams, to reach your full potential, and to deliver a knock-out blow to trauma, so you can move forward with confidence.