Removing Trauma Blocks

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 of this is true, but trauma

comes in other forms as well.

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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.

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.

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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.

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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 spot the

behavior associated with prolonged exposure.

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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, CPTSD

is easily missed.

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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, in order to mitigate the emotional vulnerability. Revisiting these disturbing patterns in

adulthood can be difficult.

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This is where hypnosis can be such a powerful ally. In a trance state, events are viewed from an

emotional distance with the help of a useful dissociation. The adult self views the child self

compassionately and learns to admire the strength and fortitude required to make through a

situation that was anything but normal. The adult self can be made to understand that the

current activation and emotional response is the exact same pattern constructed 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 one’s self 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

be at play.