(This blog was originally posted on
April 20, 2016)
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| Photo by Rick Hustead |
“Negative moments get
remembered. Traumatic ones get forgotten.”
One of the great things about the mind is its capacity to help us deal
with a painful or even traumatic event in our lives. On the one hand, the
plasticity of the brain enables us to adapt to an uncomfortable environment and
learn lessons from that experience to avoid getting into a similar situation in
the future. On the other hand, the mind also naturally knows how to block out
and even forget the memory of that event so we can continue to function and
fulfill daily activities to facilitate our basic survival. In other words, this
kind of case-specific amnesia functions like a life-saving balm.
For example: someone contacts me for hypnotherapy to overcome an intense
fear of driving and being in a vehicle following a serious car crash. This
person knows the facts about what happened but does not remember anything about
the collision or the moments immediately afterward when firefighters had to cut
him out of the vehicle with Jaws-of-Life equipment. That is okay. I do not need to know these details to create
an effective hypnotic script that will help to increase the client’s comfort
and self-confidence while driving or being in a car. In fact, this gap in the
client’s conscious awareness of the crash facilitates the physiological and
psychological healing process as he works toward achieving the avocational
self-improvement goal of being comfortable behind the wheel.
Consequently, I do not use age-regression
hypnosis to help a client access a repressed memory following a traumatic
event. Doing so would be similar to ripping a scab off of a deep abrasion
before the original wound has had a chance to heal. If and when the person is
emotionally, physically and even spiritually ready to address what happened,
these memories are likely to return organically in spontaneous flashes of
recollection or through dreams. If and when that happens, I can use various hypnosis,
therapeutic guided imagery and neuro-linguistic programming
techniques to help the individual become desensitized to and deal with how these
memories and consequences of this event. It may also be necessary to refer the
client to a licensed mental-health provider and/or a physician for additional
assessment and care if this issue falls outside of the scope of my expertise as
a certified hypnotherapist.
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Sara R. Fogan, C.Ht. is a certified hypnotherapist
based in Southern California. She graduated with honors from the Hypnosis Motivation
Institute in 2005. For more
information about Calminsense Hypnotherapy® and to set up an appointment, please visit http://www.calminsensehypnotherapy.com/.
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