Today as well as adults, more children and teenagers are being diagnosed with PTSD than ever before. PTSD, Fears and Phobias are mostly a result of experiencing some trauma, or frightening incident, something perhaps a person may or may not remember. The unconscious mind can protect us by suppressing events that are too disturbing to face.
When we think of trauma, we usually associate it with things like car accidents, rape or conflict; where children are concerned, we also need to understand that situations like over hearing parents constantly arguing, forms of abuse and bullying can be just as traumatic to a child as a war zone can be to an adult.
Fear causes anxiety and can limit our ability to face certain situations such as visiting the dentist, speaking in public, having an injection, driving a car, flying on a plane and many others. Emotions are a fundamental human characteristic, essential for immediate physical survival (Flight or Fight). Clinical tests have shown they are much more powerful than thoughts, occurring more quickly than actions, and sometimes with no associated thoughts. We need to understand that strong emotions happen before thoughts, not after them. This fundamental neuroscience always questions the efficacy of CBT or Counselling, helping with these types of emotional problems.
For example, a man walks down a narrow street where he is mugged, threatened with a knife he believes he is going to die. Hypnotised by
the situation he is robbed, left shaken but unharmed. The following week walking down a similar street, he finds himself panicking as when he was attacked, even though this time he is safe and in no real danger.
A soldier who suffered horrific experiences can relive the horror of conflict by experiencing the same emotional and physical responses by merely hearing a loud noise such as a car backfiring. You can see how the post-traumatic stress response is not a result of thinking, but deep unconscious emotional conditioning.
All phobias are based on irrational fear, and hypnosis is often an effective way to lift the problem. Not by reliving it, but by teaching the unconscious mind to feel safe in certain situations. This changes emotional responses and feelings; a change in our thoughts is a natural consequence of a change in our emotional responses.
On many occasions, I have lifted PTSD in one session, but two or three further sessions are usually required to give a permanent outcome.
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