 WHAT IS PSYCHOLOGICAL TRAUMA? A quick search online search using bing.com offers this definition of psychological trauma: trau·ma [ˈtroumə, ˈtrômə] NOUN
synonyms: torment · agony · suffering · pain · anguish · misery · distress · heartbreak · [more]
shock · upheaval · distress · stress · strain · pain · anguish · suffering · [more]  STRESS If you’re alive, you will experience stress. Some stressors actually feel good; you get married, change jobs, or move to a different city you’ve been dreaming about your entire life. Trauma involves stress, but it is different concept. Trauma usually involves “BAD STRESS.” Ten people might experience the same event. But, because we are unique and different, only some might come out of that occurrence describing or feeling it to be a traumatic event. Such life events take us longer than usual to return to functional baseline. Some traumatic events are based on what you might experience personally, what you witness occurring to someone else, or even what you hear about or see happening on television. The fallout from traumatic events can be life changing – and often not in a good way!   PTSD Sometimes, experiencing a highly stressful event triggers distress in the body long after the event has transpired. What that means in real life is that it takes you much longer than is typical to return to feeling like your “best self.” DIAGNOSING PTSD Mental health professionals use the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders to officially diagnose psychiatric disorders. The manual is now in its fifth iteration and is often referred to as the DSM-5. For any cluster of symptoms to get labeled as a clinical diagnosis, it must rise to the level of certain criteria that include categories, duration, and intensity of symptoms one is experiencing at any given time.  PTSD is the acronym for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. A Department of Homeland Security Disaster Psychology certification program includes this slide of the main aspects of PTSD according to the DSM-5.  HISTORY OF PTSD Nowadays, it seems as we are much more comfortable talking about PTSD; but it was not always this way. Even psychologists were not always comfortable diagnosing clients with PTSD. Some trauma experts like Harvard Associate Professor, and author of the classic book on trauma, The Body Keeps the Score, Bessel van der Kolk, note that it probably took the devastating impact of the Vietnam War on our vets for many in the US to begin to seriously pay attention to the terrible impact of high stress events on the human psyche.  Watch this YouTube video to see Dr. Van der Kolk discuss symptoms of PTSD here. https://youtu.be/szvCMwl_d-E  THE POLITICS OF PTSD I remember being cautioned early in my clinical training to “be careful” diagnosing clients with PTSD. We were warned to “look out” for clients “claiming” to be experiencing PTSD-type symptoms because it was possible that they were feigning illness (i.e., clients with ulterior motives exaggerating symptoms looking for sympathy, money from the government, or attempting to get out of work). Unfortunately, many people's suffering was compounded by their difficulty explaining what they were physically experiencing in the body. I have a sneaking suspicion that in response to their PTSD complaints, many people have heard, “It’s ALL in your MIND!” To top it off, many insurance companies looked askance at claims with PTSD as primary diagnosis. Money talks…you know the rest.   Thankfully, the climate is changing. Culturally, and medically, it has become much more acceptable to discuss our struggles after enduring difficult circumstances. Perhaps this in part because we have seen up close and personal so many of our military service members return home and suffer intensely after exposure to stressful events. Technological advances in brain imaging perhaps have contributed to our changing attitudes in that they allow us to see BETTER into how the brain changes after exposure to events that we perceived to be highly stressful.  COMPLEX PTSD Most stressful events are time-limited, single, one-off occurrences. For example, you might become the victim of a robbery or you might witness a murder. However, practitioners have long observed that many people suffer complicated recovery following exposure to prolonged and repeated traumatic events like childhood abuse, exposure to violence in the home, and early losses in life.   The cry among those with direct contact with clients suffering from long-standing trauma-related mental health challenges is that Complex PTSD should be a reimbursable clinical diagnosis. Efforts were made to include it in the last version of the DSM-5. Unfortunately,C-PTSD was not included.  This chart gives an idea of how COMPLEX PTSD often presents in clients' lives. BACK TO THE ORIGINAL QUESTION: CAN HYPNOTHERAPY HELP WITH TRAUMA RECOVERY? The answer is YES! Let me show you how and why. MY HPYNOTHERAPY JOURNEY I became a Certified Clinical Hypnotherapist 20 years ago (1999). I was trained in heart-centered hypnotherapy by Diane Zimberoff, LMFT (Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist) and David Hartman, LCSW (Licensed Clinical Social Worker) at the Wellness Institute in Issaquah, Washington.  Diane Zimberoff and David Hartman Founders: The Wellness Institute Issaquah Washington A significant part of the training to become a heart centered hypnotherapist requires that the therapist address their own issues and heal their own traumas. Well, let me tell you…(eyebrows lifted)  PSYCHOLOGISTS ARE PEOPLE TOO!
HYPNOTHERAPY IN PRACTICE Since my initial hypnotherapy training and certification in 1999, I have found hypnotherapy to be one of the most powerful treatments for a host of difficulties. Specifically, I have had much success using hypnotherapy as a treatment for patients desperate to “get back to who I used to be,” as they recovered from trauma, PTSD, and Complex PTSD. I know we often say that big men don't cry. NOT TRUE! But, I have watched grown men sob as they allowed themselves to become vulnerable, yet safe enough in the hypnotherapy setting to revisit traumatic events that had kept them psychologically imprisoned their whole lives. By the time they came to me, they were broken men locked in the pain of addiction, broken relationships, and psychic pain that within an hour we were able to get to the source of their suffering. More often than not, their current struggles were connected to early traumatic events. Many left the hypnotherapy process feeling free, strong, and rejuvenated to create the lives they had always envisioned for themselves. HOW DOES HYPNOTHERAPY WORK? Sorry to disappoint you. But! HYPNOTHERAPY IS NOT ABOUT GETTING YOU TO DANCE LIKE ELVIS OR CLUCK LIKE A CHICKEN!  ROOTS OF HYPNOTHERAPY As far back as the beginning of psychology, early theorists like Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung used hypnosis to access information that was thought to be “hidden from the conscious mind.” Think of the conscious mind as your everyday busy mind full of thoughts that rule your day.  Another way to think about it is that using relaxation, you allow yourself to set aside the “thinking mind” and access your right-thinking “wise mind” and the quiet focus that facilitates more intense psychological work. Marsha Linehan is credited with creating Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT). DBT now recognized by many psychologists as a very effective therapy to help with emotional regulation problems (high anxiety, chronic depression, self-harming behaviors, suicidal thoughts and attempts) – one of the many ways that trauma manifests itself negatively in the brain and body.
The Wise Mind worksheet below is a good aid to help you practice using your "wise mind."   HEART CENTERED HYPNOTHERAPY Heart-centered hypnotherapy as taught by the Wellness Institute uses an amalgamation of strategies that include relaxation, visualization, spiritual and psychological grounding and anchoring, body awareness, cognitive reframing, and inner-child healing work.  WHY DOES HYPNOTHERAPY HELP A TRAUMATIZED BRAIN? Neurologically, when the brain feels threatened it activates the stress response (flight, fright, fight, freeze). These coping strategies are not predictably effective. In fact, sometimes they lead to negative consequences for us. Physically running away from a thief chasing you is potentially life-saving. Drinking bottles of Robitussin, overworking, engaging in life threatening behaviors to escape your emotional pain - NOT SO MUCH!  TRAUMA AND THE BRAIN Some parts of the brain involved in our stress response include the amygdala, hippocampus, thalamus, and pre-frontal cortex or frontal lobe.
Highly stressful events can send us into a state of intense emotions (e.g. fear, terror, irritability - amygdala). Again, the level to which we do that varies by person for many different reasons. 
  WHY RELAXATION IS GOOD FOR YOU! The brain depends on the variability of the heart rate to generate a commensurate response. A STABLE heart rate tells signals the brain that there is NO reason for a flight, fright, fight, or freeze response. THAT IS ONE OF THE REASONS THAT DEEP RELAXATION GENERATED DURING HYPNOTHERAPY IS SO POWERFUL IN RETRAINING THE BRAIN TO CORRECT ITS RESPONSE TO TRAUMATIC EVENTS. I discuss hypnotherapy and other brain-training techniques more thoroughly in my book, Do It NOW! CLICK THE LINK BELOW TO GET YOUR COPY https://read.amazon.com/kp/embed?asin=B079SWMRRW&preview=newtab&linkCode=kpe&ref_=cm_sw_r_kb_dp_vg.9Cb432N1YB  A workbook/journal accompanies the book to help you practice more cognitive restricting strategies. Click the link below to get your copy! https://www.amazon.com/dp/1728704154/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_0l.9CbTA43ED0.  HYPNOTHERAPY WORKS! Hypnotherapy WORKS! because with sufficient relaxation, you become able to decrease the stress response (flight, fright, fight, freeze) and access the parts of the brain connected to common sense and rational thinking. Your “monkey-mind” or chattering brain that is always busy with a running commentary slows down. You become quiet, focused, and improve your ability to deeply concentrate -with less chance of being disturbed by everyday thoughts and distractions. You CAN THINK clearer!  HYPNOTHERAPY AND SUGGESTIBILITY Another powerful benefit of hypnotherapy is that once you are in a deeply relaxed state, you are more suggestible – IT’S EASIER FOR YOU TO BELIEVE YOUR NEW DECISIONS WILL WORK. Cognitively reframing past, painful events or making new, positive decisions about how you choose to live your life moving forward are much more likely to take hold when you are relaxed and in a theta state. HYPNOTHERAPY AS AN ALTERED STATE OF AWARENESS The brain goes through varying levels of awareness as we move between fully awake and deeply asleep states. Hypnotherapy is commonly conducted when you are in the theta state of awareness. You can say that the brain is “altered” during hypnotherapy. I like to say that intentionally relaxing the brain to a theta state is really a natural state.  CLINICAL APPLICATIONS OF HYPNOTHERAPY  Hypnotherapy can be used to treat MANY problems. It has been used for many years to help patients reduce anxiety, stop smoking, lose weight, manage pain, and recover from emotional and psychological challenges.  EFFICACY OF HYPNOTHERAPY The hypnotherapy process (in contrast to talk therapy that I also utilize with a modality like Cognitive Behavior Therapy) works fast! We are ALL unique and different. But… Most of my clients on average by the end of 5 sessions are able to:
So, to answer the question: Can HYPNOTHERAPY help with trauma recovery? Again, my answer is a resounding YES! HYPNOTHERAPY IS A POWERFUL THERAPEUTIC TOOL! And YES! Yes! YES! HYPNOTHERAPY WORKS FOR MOST PEOPLE!  CAN YOU DO HYPNOTHERAPY ONLINE? COVID-19 and lock down considerations forced many practitioners to think outside the box. I've been doing sessions online since the quarantine began and my clients have found them to be very helpful - as long as we have a good connection and the maintenance man is not too close. It is important to consider some safety issues, though. For example, patients be strongly given permission to stop sessions, connect to their best emergency supports in the event of a crisis. Sometimes, I’ve had patients suffer what practitioners call an “abreaction” where they experience significant emotional difficulty. ab·re·ac·tion [ˌabrēˈakSHən] NOUN psychoanalysis
Two scenarios come to my mind as I think about this:
I’m not convinced yet that online is the safest way to experience hypnotherapy. The subconscious has a way of taking us exactly where we need to go to get our healing. Some people access memories from which they had previously dissociated. My view is that there would have to be supports in place in the event the client has a reaction that is too much for them to manage alone.  COST OF HYPNOTHERAPY Most insurance companies DO NOT pay for hypnotherapy services – but some do. For the most part, hypnotherapy services are more expensive that traditional psychotherapy. However, my sincere opinion is that it is a faster way to heal and is worth the investment. Typical costs of Hypnotherapy according to https://health.costhelper.com/hypnosis.html:
AGAIN, HYPNOTHERAPY OFTEN COSTS MORE THAN TRADITIONAL PSYCHOTHERAPY. BUT LOOKING AT THE RESULTS BELOW IS IT TIME YOU CALLED A HYPNOTHERAPIST? 
1 Comment
|
AuthorDr. Triphinia “Triphi” Margaret Wallace is a Licensed Psychologist in Atlanta, Georgia. She is also an Advanced Clinical Hypnotherapist and Reiki Level III practitioner in the Usui tradition. After over twenty-two years in clinical practice, Dr. Wallace has developed a neuro-psycho-spiritual approach to her practice that is grounded in Cognitive Behavior Therapy, Neuroscience, Creole Psychology, and Psycho-spiritual techniques such as Hypnotherapy, Mindfulness/Meditation, and Reiki. Dr. Triphi graduated from Fielding Graduate University in Santa Barbara, California and the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss). Her published academic works include a doctoral dissertation on the association among problem-solving appraisal, hopelessness, and suicide among low-income, African American women, and co-authored peer-reviewed articles on the relation between alcohol use and intimate partner violence, and the utilization of routine health screenings in the diagnosis of depression among African American adolescent males. Dr. Triphi published her first book, Do It NOW! A 7-Step Plan to Beat Bad Habits that Block Success in February 2018. In November of 2018, her second book; a companion workbook/journal called, Do It NOW Workbook/Journal: Powerful Exercises to Fix Bad Habits that Block Success, was released. Dr. Triphi regularly volunteers with the Red Cross conducting pre- and post-deployment reconnection and resiliency workshops with active, disabled, and retired military service members and their families. Most who know her describe Dr. Triphi as an empathetic practitioner, and an engaging presenter with a ready smile who receives rave reviews from those who listen to her teach. Archives
March 2021
Categories |
RSS Feed