Methods to Recover

* Pain Management *  PTSD * Compulsive Behaviors * Fears and Anxiety *

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"PTSD was a waking nightmare.  I was so out of control.  It was like watching someone else, someone I hated.  I'm back to being me again.  I'm functional again.  I'm ME again."    - Mike

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There are evidence-based approaches to recovering from trauma.

These are some ways we approach trauma:

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• Relaxation Training

• Managing Reactions and Practicing Emotional Awareness

• Memory Regression

• Acceptance of the Past

• Focus on Hope

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Relaxation Training

You will learn relaxation techniques to lower your heart rate, ease muscle fatigue, and experience rest.  Most people that come to New Direction Hypnosis have struggles with hypervigilance or racing thoughts.  Most have some trouble sleeping.  You will get to learn how to relax yourself and practice self-hypnosis to finally rest and relax.

 

Managing Reactions and Practicing Emotional Awareness

One thing is true of all trauma survivors seeking help: we all understand, deeply, that we are not reacting the way we want.  Sudden outburts against people we love.  Irrational fears.  Not connecting or distancing.  Night Terrors. Connecting too fast or without regard to our own well-being.  Toxic relationships.  These are all things that are reactions to the pressures we barely acknowledge.​

It's never the thing that is the thing.  It's never the Lego we step on that causes the outburst.  It's the three days prior that built up to the outburst.  It's the crowd we had to navigate. And it's the scent in the air that reminded us of that time.  And it's the song on the radio. And it's the helpless feeling we had.  And it's the frustration from being closed in and ineffective from traffic.  It's the BANG BANG BANG of the construction down the street for the last week.  It's all of this.  And then we step on the Lego.

We will work on emotional awareness so that we deal with events and feelings as they arise.  We work on recognizing individual and how we react emotionally to events so they don't stack up.  So we don't hurt our loved ones.  So we don't hurt ourselves.

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Memory Regression

One of the most common tools available to the hypnotherapist is memory regression.  While under hypnosis, memories can be recalled in various degrees of intensity and detail. In a full memory regression, it is possible for a person to re experience the original event as if it were actually occurring. 

Do not be fooled- THIS IS HARD.  It involves revisiting things we have pushed aside and blocked out so we could continue to function.  It involves opening the boxes we purposefully shoved down into the dark.  We go into these memories together and bit by bit work through them.  Together.

This kind of experience can include intense recollections of the event itself as well as the your emotional state at the time. In order to keep you calm and feeling safe, we create the conditions for what is called “dual awareness”. This is done by simply reminding the person throughout the process that although the memory seems quite real, they are actually in the present moment and free from danger.  There are other techniques we use to keep both the intensity of the experience while giving distance simultaneously.  This allows you to work with the memory therapeutically without repressing it or dissociating from it.

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Acceptance of the Past

We work together through hypnosis to come to grips with the past, with our actions (or inactions), and how the events actually happened.  We come to accept what was.  This gives resolution and allows us to move forward instead of reliving it searching for a different outcome.  We will not block the event nor will we change it to a magical outcome.  We will face it and grow from it.  We will accept what happened and get stronger from it.

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Focus on Hope

Roses: "Oh no! The PH is too high!  I guess I'll just die."

Dandelions: "Concrete?  Heck yes!  Here we go!  I'm cracking this wide open."

Hope is essential to growth.  Even the smallest amount can allow for immense change.  We will support you in that change.  We will work together to find that hope so that you can be the dandelion in the sidewalk.

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For further information on how Hypnosis works with PTSD, please follow this link for one of the best written articles I have read:  Hypnosis and PTSD by Chris Lemig

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