Trauma – PTSD

Question:

Yes I have thought about hypnosis a lot espeially when I get frustrated and want my memories to come quickly even though that may overwhelm me. I do know people who got a lot of memories that way. The trouble was that it was the hypnotherapist who knew their story not themselves. That means that they did not retreive any feelings about their past as it still remained unknown territory. The other concideration is of course that the law takes very unkindly towards this type of therapy. Even if you are not thinking of starting a law suit now you could in the future when you are feeling stronger. Having used hypnosis or other ‘Truth serum drugs" would definitely jeoopardise your case in the court system as it stands today. siri

Response:

*waves to the group*

*waves back* i’m curious about hypnosis tonight…  brought the subject up to my t’pist more to talk about the pros and cons but not really thinking seriously about doing it..  just figured it was a good way to waste and hour instead of talking about fun stuff like, uh, feelings and such..

First off, I’m a certified Master Practioner of Neuro-Linguistic Programming and my papers are in the mail for hypnotherapist certification. but i’m curious – said that already :/ What y’all think about this?

I think it depends on your goals for hypnosis. Is it beneficial/not beneficial for dID ppls?

I think that it can be beneficial, depending on the hypnotist and the goals. Why, Why not?

Well, basically, if you’re already seeing a therp, and are DID as opposed to MP (note the conspicuous absence of a D), then it works better if therp and hypnotist are coordinated.  Lack of coordination can add unnecessary complexity. Have you done it?

As hypnotist, yes.  As client, not exactly. Thought about it?

Yes. Decided against it?

No. Wish you could do it?

No, I don’t wish because I can. Know someone who did it?

Yes. Are there issues that dissociatives have to consider that non-dissociatives don’t have to think about concerning hypnosis?

Sorta.  There’re all basically the same issues, just at different levels of importance. Chris.

Response:

I’ve got to figure out some way to get a list of posts I’ve replied to so I won’t keep saying ‘once again, I have no idea if I replied to this, but if so, here’s another reply’ *waves to the group* i’m curious about hypnosis tonight…  brought the subject up to my t’pist more to talk about the pros and cons but not really thinking seriously about doing it..  just figured it was a good way to waste and hour instead of talking about fun stuff like, uh, feelings and such..

Good topic to waste time on. At least you can pretend there is some therapeutic value to that topic, hard to do if you insist on talking about the weather or something. but i’m curious – said that already :/ What y’all think about this?  Is it beneficial/not beneficial for dID ppls?  Why, Why not?  Have you done it?  Thought about it?  Decided against it?  Wish you could do it?  Know someone who did it?  Are there issues that dissociatives have to consider that non-dissociatives don’t have to think about concerning hypnosis? Basically, i’m asking for a catch all response from any and all  :) -katrina.

Here’s what I know about hypnosis. This is based on my experience as a t’pist, my reading and training, and my experience as a multiple. There is a big controversy going on about the value of the use of guided hypnosis in the treatment of problems with people who dissociate. (guided hypnosis is what happens when you do hypnosis with a t’pist, self hypnosis is what happens when you do it on your own. Other than that there is very little difference). On the negative side is the argument that a person who dissociates is using something they are already skilled at and trained to do at the drop of a hat, and that using it to heal is just encouraging the use of something that is keeping them stuck in an old way of coping. They should be taught another way of processing information so that they can decide in the future if they intentionally want to process information in a trance state or in some other way. On the positive side is the idea that people who dissociate are very very good at the use of trance states and you should try to work with a person’s strengths when possible. Hypnosis is _not_ the t’pist controlling the client, and anyone who says a person who dissociates is more gullible, suggestible, etc. doesn’t know how hypnosis works. A person who dissociates who is more gullible, suggestible, etc. is that way in _and_ out of a trance state. Being in a trance does _not_ make a person more likely to ‘fall for’ whatever the t’pist says. If the client is going to be resistant to something it will happen, regardless. The way for hypnosis to be used in this manner takes a different sort of use of trance than t’pists use in clinical work. What being in a trance does to a person (in basic clinical work) is to allow them to relax defenses and to be more open to _internal_ suggestion and information. Using me as an example, I am a _very_ skeptical, defensive, guarded person. I am like this in _and_ out of trance. I am actually less receptive to outside information while in a trance because I am more connected to my internal world and less able to let in the outside world. My t’pist has to know how to work with this and use it to my benefit or he gets nowhere quickly. That said, I have used self hypnosis intentionally since I was about eleven (I think) and guided hypnosis for healing since 1981. I know I would not have gotten as far as I have in my healing if it weren’t for this. My current t’pist refuses to do guided hypnosis with me because he believes in the argument that I am just reinforcing the single way of processing information and he wants me to learn other ways of doing it so I have options. My healing has taken a very different turn since I started working with him and I firmly believe it is more difficult this way. If he were to allow guided hypnosis my healing at this stage would be very different and much easier on me. Of course I don’t know if it would be ‘better’ or faster. I do know I would prefer it. As a t’pist, I guess the things I would caution a client about in using hypnosis is that it’s _not_ a miracle cure, it’s _not_ mind control and it’s _not_ going to solve all your problems painlessly. It’s actually not very useful for many of the problems people have who seek t’py. People who don’t dissociate may find that it helps them relax, helps them focus, helps them get past some block or addiction more easily, or they may find that it’s useless. People who do dissociate may find that it helps them relax, helps them focus, helps them get past some block or addiction more easily, or they may find that it’s useless *grin* The only difference that I can see is that people who dissociate already know how to use trance states _very_ well and may prefer to continue using them even when there are other coping skills that work much better. It would be up to the t’pist to figure out how to teach the client these other skills and then let the client decide which is the preferred method of coping. The best use of hypnosis in t’py next to using it in relaxation and addiction control, is the use of guided imagery for healing from things too painful to address head on. The way _I_ would use hypnosis with someone who dissociates is to get them to work on something painful in trance and then break it down into smaller steps to be worked on out of trance, then gradually put these steps together outside of trance to end up working on the whole thing again outside of trance. This way the person could compare dealing in trance and out of trance with the same situation and figure out for themself which way is best individually. And of course I would be continuously using their natural use of self hypnosis to strengthen their healing in any way I could. One thing that research has found is that people in trance states (regardless of if they naturally dissociate to any great degree or not) are more likely to believe their internal reactions/perceptions/ experiences as truth (sort of like mixing up a dream with an awake experience so that you aren’t sure if you really did something or just dreamed it). This makes the use of guided hypnosis very tricky in memory retrieval and it is really _not_ a good idea to use it for that. What has become fairly common is for the t’pist to use guided imagery to get the client to relax, get to a safe place, and be able to think in terms of metaphorical (trance logic) concepts. Then the t’pist ’steps back’ and allows the client to guide the trance. If memories come up the t’pist remains neutral and continues to let the client guide. The t’pist offers support and reinforces the metaphorical connections that have been set up as ‘life lines’ but is careful to not suggest a direction. This way there is no possibility of the t’pist ’suggesting’ a memory that the client may eventually accept as real when it’s not. Personally, I think _this_ is why so many t’pists (my own included) are hesitant to use guided hypnosis in sessions. They are rationalizing it to be teaching the client other coping skills, but in fact they are concerned they may ‘implant’ memories. I believe this means that most t’pists who use hypnosis don’t understand well enough how it works. Heck, I’ve tried for _years_ to use hypnosis to convince myself that I was never abused. If _I_ can’t convince myself of this I seriously doubt a t’pist could ‘implant’ a memory!!!!!! Rainbow Colors (Jill, Thena, Lora, Dan) —      I am in the process of becoming, so this space is blank.

Response:

Welp, I’ve been in therapy for 2 years, and one of the things I’ve learned about myself is that I have much greater power of imagination than I used to think. I also smoke, drink too much, am about 50 pounds overweight, waste every weekend holed up in my home, am suffering from a lot of weird body aches, have just begun over-sleeping and missing the alarm every morning, etc., etc. My psychiatrist, an acknowledged expert in DID and PTSD stuff, seems to think that all these problems are caused by various "parts" who are trying to protect me/numb me out/keep bad people away. I’ve asked him a few times whether he thinks he could find me a good hypnotist–NOT for memory retrieval, but in order to get the whole system working toward the same goal–weight loss being the most important one. My doc says he feels "apprehensive" about my seeing a hypnotist, because he’s afraid I’m gonna have an abreaction or something.  Maybe I would. So I’m trying to learn SELF-hypnosis.  Bought a couple of books and a tape with a couple of different inductions on it.  Have read the books, and have listed to the tape three times (just started this week).  Feels safe enough.  Feels pretty good, as a matter of fact.  As to whether it’ll help me lose weight, well, I’ll keep you posted. Take care, swiv

Response:

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