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Features – The first time I saw a hypnotherapist, I nervously tried it as a last resort. After four years of traditional treatment, I was seeing some results, but I felt like I was hitting a wall that was preventing me from making the progress I needed.
From that first session, I was amazed at how hypnotherapy took my trauma processing, self-awareness, and self-love to new heights. For four months, I continued my hypnotherapy sessions and worked with my regular therapist to further my progress. Then it felt like both were over, at least temporarily.
It seemed surprisingly fast, but it also felt more consistent than it has been in years. I had no idea how it worked, but at the time I was simply glad it did. Now, as a certified clinical hypnotherapist, I love that this process is science-based yet soul-healing.
Unwanted or negative emotions, behaviors, and behaviors are common effects of dominant pathways in the brain that are formed in response to some type of trauma. Traumas range from major traumas such as sexual assault or the death of a loved one to minor traumas such as bending a fender in a parking lot or being disrespectful to a child. The pathways that form from trauma are made up of neurons in the brain and are called neural pathways.
The more severe the trauma, the more likely strong neural pathways will form quickly. When the mind processes a trauma, hormones are released along with the emotions that occurred at the time. Hormones and new neural pathways link together, making the memory of the event more vivid in the mind and more dominant in the structure of the brain and body. Although we are usually unaware that these undesirable neural pathways are activated, we are often aware of the negative emotions they generate.
When there are too many stress hormones in the body, it becomes more than our system can handle, leading to anxiety, depression, physical symptoms, loss of self-esteem, post-traumatic stress disorder, and compulsive and deviant behaviors. It can permeate your life. To alleviate symptoms, the brain must learn to change by deactivating the neural pathways that have been unpleasant in the past.
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The brain’s ability to change is called neuroplasticity. Over the past 25 years, great advances have been made in our understanding of neuroplasticity. There is still much to discover, but we know that as babies and children, our minds are primed for change and growth.
As we grow into adulthood, our ability to easily change and shape neural pathways begins to decline, and only very specific and rare catalysts increase the chances of brain change. One way is to process information in a deeper state of consciousness, and hypnosis is one way to get there without using psychedelics.
Hypnotherapy is not like a hypnosis show. Clinical hypnotherapists are trained to help clients enter and maintain a hypnotic state, slowing brain waves and promoting deep states of relaxation, hyperfocus, and neuroplasticity.
With the brain open to change and a therapist’s guidance, a person in a hypnotic state can gain therapeutic benefits such as:
- Understand the root cause of their problems.
- Heals trauma and unwanted emotions, behaviors, habits, thoughts, and beliefs.
- Subconsciously rebuilds incorrectly formed paths.
After a session with a clinical hypnotherapist, clients have a lot of information to process. To optimally establish new neural pathways and ensure that old, unnecessary neural pathways are reduced and severed, write in a journal, talk to a trusted loved one, or work through your emotions with a dedicated therapist. We highly recommend that you do so.
Written by ERIN DEL TORO, a certified clinical hypnotherapist with True North Mind Management.
This article first appeared in the January/February 2021 issue of St. George Health and Wellness magazine.
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