The word trauma conjures discomfort in most of us and for good reason. People associate the trauma with a specific event, an indelible mark in the timeline that stands as a divider—life before the event and life after. All of us have heard and used the acronym PTSD. We know what it stands for and most of us understand the concept. The common attribution is to the person in harm’s way who witnesses, or directly endures, a catastrophe. All this is true, but trauma comes in other forms as well.
In hypnosis, trauma is a part of everyday life. While some of my trauma clients already understand that they’re working through post-traumatic stress disorder stemming from a specific event, others have no idea that they’re struggling with a trauma response at all.
When Trauma Becomes a Pattern
Complex post-traumatic stress disorder, CPTSD, is a bit of a different animal. CPTSD represents a prolonged exposure to physical or emotional trauma, including abuse and neglect.
If we narrow our focus to early childhood development, CPTSD can alter the brain’s formation and operation. Without getting too clinical here, suffice it to say that an activated state becomes linked to emotional safety, as does each coping mechanism associated with the activated state.
Fight, Flight, Freeze, and Fawn
Within the activated state, there are four main categories of response – fight, flight, freeze, and fawn. Most of us favor one of these response types when activated. The trick is to spot the behavior associated with prolonged exposure.
People pleasing, isolation, shame, guilt, emotional dissociation, distraction, perfectionism… The list goes on, but the main point is that these symptoms often go untreated and at times, misdiagnosed. Bipolar disorder, ADD/ADHD, generalized anxiety disorders, depression, and CPTSD are easily missed.
There is a natural inclination to bear the weight of past trauma and trudge forward. For those who survived repeated abuse and neglect in childhood, the first step is normalizing the behavior to mitigate the emotional vulnerability. Revisiting these disturbing patterns in adulthood can be difficult.
Using Hypnosis to Change the Pattern
This is where hypnosis can be such a powerful ally. In a trance state, events are viewed from an emotional distance through a useful dissociation. The adult self views the child self compassionately and learns to admire the strength and fortitude required to make it through a situation that was anything but normal. The adult self can be made to understand that the current activation and emotional response are the exact same pattern formed in childhood, and, as with most things from childhood, it needs to be altered to adapt to the current reality.
The current reality is one of self-love and self-trust. Admiring oneself for surviving every single difficult moment, every single difficult day, to arrive in the present as a competent adult driven to change their lives for the better – thanking the child self, receiving thanks from the child self for growing into a resilient, resourceful adult, and eventually allowing your child self to go and play.
Marcel Touponse is a Hypnotherapist, Sound Healer, Life Coach, and Tarot Reader. He co-owns The Blackbird House in Old Wethersfield and operates Blackbird Hypnosis. Marcel’s goal is to assist you in “becoming aligned with your mind.” He offers regular workshops on Self-Hypnosis and is available for small- and large-group tarot readings.
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