Hypnosis

[Brittany Gonord]

So my T suggested hypnosis in therapy yesterday. What are your experiences?

 

[EveHarrington]

Is hypnosis successful for treating PTSD? I've never done it myself. :hug:

 

[cat-lady]

I've heard it can be effective but I've never tried it.

 

[Brittany Gonord]

Is hypnosis successful for treating PTSD? I've never done it myself. :hug:

I suppose it depends on the individual.

 

[Killashandra]

Personally I have tried hypnosis and I can't say it helped.

But then again I'm very protective spiritually. I don't like letting people in unless they have all thier shit together. And I haven't met a hypnotist that has.

I spent the whole time thinking the woman needed to hypnotize herself and deal with whatever it was that she wasn't dealing with. I could feel her hesitance and her misbelief in what she was doing..

Maybe of you trusted the person and felt safe it might be worth it but my question is -- are you emotionally ready to deal with what is going to come out?

 

[Brittany Gonord]

Personally I have tried hypnosis and I can't say it helped.

But then again I'm very protective s...

I am not yet ready, but my T is in no way pressuring me to do it. It is just out there for me to consider and pray about.

 

[anthony]

Hypnosis is typically not recommended for trauma treatment by PTSD leading experts, as there are variables that can appear that the person has suppressed or such... the memory can bring back unexpectedly without control.

 

[Panda Bear]

Bingo @anthony

I highly recommend that you don't, but to each their own. For some of us, even EMDR can be risky(I know they aren't the same thing).

For some, releasing control of our memories and having them come back with out the control is not cool. I had a reaction to an ER sedation for an injury I had, they used Ketamine. The sedation caused my memories to come back with no ability to control them. I was paralyzed and total trapped in my memeories. The only thing we could do was wait for it to wear off. When I screamed, they dosed me with more so they could try and repair my injury.

It caused massive issues....and issues is a nice way of putting it. Hell no.....to hypnosis.

 

[Eagle3]

My therapist uses hypnosis on occasion, but never to try to recover memories. He uses it more as a way to convince me to relax and be more centered, or to share openly without self-censoring. Hypnosis is also useful for helping me sleep sometimes. This guy has TONS of experience, and he knows my spiritual education frowns on such activities, so he treads carefully. I really appreciate how thoughtful he is about the whole process. Depending on how hypnosis is used, it can be helpful, but yeah, you don't want to try to dredge up memories that the unconscious is hiding for a reason.

 

[Sideways]

I've read, like Anthony mentioned, that it's not recommended for PTSD, and it's frowned upon for memory recall in particular.

But for side effects and symptoms, like sleep issues or binge eating or a specific anxiety (like driving your car), my understanding it can be very helpful. As long as the hypno-T is very very clear about the parameters.

Me personally? Hell no. Used to get hypnotised before my abuse which doesn't help! But I spend enough time dissociating in therapy and losing control of the words coming out of my mouth as it is.

Read up I reckon, and be very clear about what aspect of your ptsd it is that you're targeting.

 

[ABKD]

I was once hypnotized. This was because the police wanted a description of the one that traumatized me. I wasn't able to give such a description so they tried with hypnosis. Although it was rather a positive experience (because afterwards I was very relaxed), I wouldn't recommend it as therapy method.
You get very relaxed, which can be a nice feeling. But you're also prone to suggestion. Research shows that hypnosis isn't helpful to recover memories or so, but you can "remember" things that didn't happen due to suggestions of your therapist. Some say hypnosis can be helpful because you're more relaxed so speaking about your trauma becomes easier, but my personal experience is that this isn't true. Yes, you feel more relaxed, but I didn't find it easier to speak about what happened.