Is it helpful to revisit traumatic or painful experiences?

As is often the case, there isn’t a straight forward or unambiguous answer to this question but stay with me and I’ll do my best to explain.

In solution focussed hypnotherapy, as a general rule we don’t revisit past traumas or upsetting experiences and the reason for this is based on what we know about our brains through research in Neuroscience. The brain is a complex organ and whilst neuroscience has given a great understanding of its functions and capabilities, there is still much we have yet to understand. It’s useful then, to think about the brain quite simplistically as being made up of two essential parts; the intellectual brain and the primitive brain. The primitive brain is primarily concerned with our survival, it scans our environment for potential threats and when it recognises a threat, it activates the fight, flight or freeze response, sending adrenaline and cortisol into our bloodstream. In our 21st century lives, what our primitive brains have learnt to see as threats can be everywhere; someone driving aggressively, a text message that implies someone is upset with you, an unexpectedly high electricity bill that you might struggle to pay. All of these things and many, many more can activate the fight/flight/freeze response causing us to feel anxious or stressed and when we are experiencing this, the primitive brain is dominant and we are effectively locked out of the intellectual brain.

The intellectual brain is very different. It’s an amazing resource that is capable of working things out logically and rationally, finding solutions to problems or challenges and creative thinking. In contrast to the primitive brain, the intellectual brain can be described as having a fundamentally positive orientation.

In hypnotherapy, it’s the intellectual brain that we want to engage because in doing so, clients are more able to see their problems or challenges in a more rational way and be better able to work out how those problems could be resolved….to find their own solutions.

If we encourage clients to talk about past traumas or upsetting experiences, then the very act of remembering and talking about it will engage the primitive brain, their bodies will start to respond by producing stress hormones as if the threat is present, and they will be unable to make use of the intellectual brain.

However, solution focused hypnotherapy is one form of therapy among many and I would not for one moment wish to suggest that other therapies are not valuable and effective. It’s a question of what is right for the individual. For example, I saw a client who had suffered trauma from an abusive relationship and they had found great benefit in seeing a therapist who encouraged them to talk about those experiences because, with the skilled interventions of the therapist, they came to understand that their own feelings of guilt and shame were completely misplaced and actually gave them a greater sense of their own value.

Returning to solution focused hypnotherapy, there a couple of exemptions to the rule of not revisiting past trauma. Firstly, in our initial consultation, in order to be able to help the client, we necessarily have to know how they wish to be helped and this usually (although not always) involves the client explaining what it is they want to address and move forward from. Secondly, there is a technique we sometimes use in the treatment of phobias called the Rewind technique and this does involve recalling and ‘replaying’ particular events although this is done in a unique (and extremely effective) way.

You, as the client, will know what’s right for you and if you are wondering whether solution focused hypnotherapy is right for you, I would encourage you to take advantage of the initial consultation which I offer free of charge. This is a great opportunity to learn about the brain and understand why you are feeling as you are and importantly, how the brain’s amazing capacity for change can enable you to achieve the things you want to achieve and live the life you want to live. It’s also a great opportunity for us to meet and develop the rapport that is so vital for any successful therapeutic outcomes.

If you’re reading this and are interested but don’t live anywhere near Birmingham, then please be reassured that hypnotherapy is as effective online as it is in face-to-face sessions, so please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

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