Healing PTSD and The Loss of Self

For PTSD sufferers, traumatic experiences often render the rest of their lives irrelevant. They become stuck in the past. They find it difficult to live in the here and now. They find it impossible to interact with people in the present.

Sometimes PTSD sufferers are overtaken by a sense of futility. They become withdrawn and detached, a feeling that they are “not in their own head.” They live apart from their body, detached or dissociated from their own “Self.” In effect, PTSD sufferers have lost control of their own minds and bodies.

This is a common symptom of PTSD or other acute traumas. Other common symptoms include: nightmares, flashbacks, alternate bouts of rage, anger and withdrawal, hyper-vigilance, and an inability to get along with people or maintain meaningful relationships. This last is also known as “Numbing”: feeling emotionally distant from others as well as The Self.

PTSD and other acute trauma almost always make it difficult to engage in intimate relationships. One of the hardest things for traumatized people to confront is the “shame” they feel about the way they behaved during a traumatic episode, whether it’s warranted (like a soldier committing atrocities) or not (like a child who tries to placate his/her abuser). Sufferers feel shame about what they did, or did not do, under the traumatic circumstances. They despise themselves for how terrified, dependent, excited or enraged they felt. They feel shame about the actions they took to survive or maintain a connection with the person who abused them. This can lead to confusion about whether one was a victim or a willing participant, which in turn, can lead to confusion about the difference between love and terror.

Trauma results in a fundamental reorganization of the way the mind and brain manage perceptions. Helping victims “find the words” to describe what happened to them is not enough. Traditional talk therapy doesn’t necessarily alter the physical and hormonal responses stored in the body. Because trauma is held in the body, for real change to take place, the body needs to learn that the danger has passed and how to live once again in the present.

This is where hypnotherapy is particularly useful. Using hypnosis, PTSD sufferers can gain access to their subconscious minds, the place where their emotions and traumatic memories are stored. With assistance from a skilled hypnotherapist, sufferers can reclaim the parts of their personality that have been submerged or hurt by the trauma. A person can regain a sense of control over their own mind and body. Because hypnotherapy addresses itself directly to the subconscious, it can help sufferers lessen the effects of PTSD almost immediately and, over time, to completely heal their trauma. Simply put, hypnotherapy can help trauma victims return to their “old selves” once again.