Answering questions put to me in my Facebook group.
Is pain a mental thing?
Answer:
Pain is a signal that there is something wrong, like gauges or lights in a car. Pain is your body telling you something needs attention. If the source of the pain is being treated, the signal is no longer required so it can often be removed using hypnosis. Your mind can’t tell the difference between physical and emotional pain, physical and emotional pain is actually processed by the same parts of the brain.
We all know that healing is like peeling layers off of an onion. It’s hard because every time we peel back a layer it’s also like an awakening… with that I feel we are more awake to other traumas in the world and that in itself can be traumatising all over again.
Do we ever reach that inner layer and find peace or is it just a constant cycle of getting deeper and having to accept / forgive / relive / cope whilst battling to avoid old patterns?? Everytime I think I’m “over it all” out of the blue il get triggered. It’s exhausting.
Answer:
This is why it’s important to have goals, if you don’t know where you are going you are never going to get there. What will healing allow you to achieve? Do you want to heal so you can feel more confident? Have better relationships?
Has anyone ever truly healed from past trauma?
Answer:
If you don’t know what healed looks like how can you know if you have? What are your goals? What will you notice when you are healed? According to Jordan Peterson, healing isn’t about undoing the past, it’s about becoming strong enough to deal with it. With a goal in mind you can judge how you are reacting differently to things that you found triggering in the past. Can all triggers be completely eliminated? No. It’s like if you break a bone, that bone won’t just grow back. Your body will grow back stronger but when the weather changes it’s not uncommon to get discomfort in that area. That little twinge that reminds you of that old problem can allow you to notice how far you have come, noticing how far you’ve come can allow you to keep progressing.
You can learn to become more aware of your triggers and that awareness is also part of the battle. Awareness can allow you to release the toxic shame associated with past trauma, it can allow you to identify the thoughts or insecurities that are caused by abuse and trauma.
In regards to trauma in the world, what are your values? By identifying your own values and sticking to them you can learn to ignore anything that doesn’t serve you, ignore anything that doesn’t help you reach your goals.
How can I learn to trust others? (To be myself around them)
Answer:
Being unable to trust others is going to stem from not trusting yourself, not valuing your own opinions or instincts and feeling like you are unable to recover should someone betray you. Feeling like you can’t be yourself is going to come from feeling like there is something wrong with you, like you are not likeable as you are.
So the key to overcoming these trust issues is going to be inner child work, inner child healing is going to allow you to feel safe and secure to feel good enough in who you are, to release toxic shame, reconnect with your emotions and instincts. It’s going to allow you to know that you can recover should a betrayal occur.
Probably most importantly inner child work is going to allow you to form healthy boundaries, if you are letting someone into your life too quickly to a point where a breach of trust would be really damaging to you that suggests you need to get stronger boundaries.
What are some tips when confronted with a PTSD moment?
Answer:
I have a couple of PTSD hypnosis videos on YouTube find one below
When a person experiences a traumatic event it’s stored in the amygdala, the emotional part of the brain. Using hypnosis we can desentise the traumatic memory and allow it to be processed as a normal memory so the first tip is to check those videos out.
You can also have a regular relaxation practice, the more a person experiences relaxation the easier it becomes to relax. Regular relaxation is going to result in better emotional regulation and more mindfulness.
In other videos on this channel I show breathing and eft techniques that can also help so check them out.
Is medication always needed?
Answer:
You need to see a doctor if you want to discuss your specific medication requirements. There are certainly times when medication is very much needed but in my opinion and experience most people don’t need medication to overcome trauma. Successful healing is going to require getting in touch with, feeling and accepting emotions, most people complain that medication numbs their emotions and this is going to make healing very difficult.
It also goes back to the inner child issue of looking outside yourself to feel O.K. I think anyone would agree that long term use and reliance on medication is not a good thing.
Would meditation help me?
Answer:
Most people find meditation very beneficial. Meditation can increase emotional regulation for the reasons I covered above, it can help with negative self talk and negative emotions. What resists persists so meditation can really help with accepting the present moment and not resisting.
Should I confront someone that hurt me? (Childhood ptsd)
Answer:
It depends on your definition of confront. Do you have a loving trusting relationship with this person now? If you have a good relationship with them now discussing something they did in the past maybe helpful. Depending on what happened they may apologise, explain they didn’t realise. In my experience, no. Confronting someone usually creates an opportunity for gas lighting, they will say it never happened, that you are overreacting, etc. What do you hope to get from the confrontation? Hypnosis is again a very powerful tool to allow you to give yourself what you need.
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