How Can Meditation & Hypnosis Help To Treat Trauma & PTSD?

Proven effective, easy to access, the life changing potential of meditation & hypnosis.

Trauma and PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder) are debilitating conditions that can leave lasting emotional wounds and hinder your ability to live your life to its fullest. As a therapist with over two decades of experience, I have witnessed the transformative power of meditation and hypnosis in helping clients recover from trauma and PTSD.

Trauma and PTSD are the effects of an highly charged emotional experience on the brain. When you experience a traumatic event, it can cause the brain to respond in a way that is designed to protect you. First of all in that moment, there is no time to pause or reflect, so your body brain “guards” set off the alarm for action.

After the event and even when you are now safe, the brain stores all the information about the experience, including all sensory data, plus thoughts, what you witness and so on.

The information remains in the gatehouse (amygdala), as if you have guards standing waiting anything familiar that is stored in the memory, these guards set off the alarm so you don’t have to wait for ‘thinking’ or ‘processing’ time to catch up.

It’s about the speed of reaction that our conscious mind would otherwise delay. So nature created a way to bypass that functionality and hit the react button in an instant. This is very useful in the event you actually need to run or fight! It is not so useful if these bodily reactions are being fired off in a chronic manner, that is harmful to mental and physical health.

React First - Think Later

Fight Flight Response Activates -Sympathetic Nervous System

The fight flight response is designed to set off the alarm within the systems of the body in order that you can escape danger or have the strength and agility to fight your way out of it. The guards have already sent the message to the sympathetic nervous system, part of your autonomic nervous system - to make changes to your body’s actions.

The amygdala, a part of the brain responsible for processing emotions, triggers a stress response in the body. This response then triggers the release of stress hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol, leading to physical symptoms such as increased heart rate, sweating, and heightened anxiety.

The hippocampus, another part of the brain responsible for memory processing, may also be affected, leading to difficulty in processing the traumatic event and a tendency to relive it repeatedly. These changes in the brain can lead to negative symptoms such as anxiety, depression, and chronic stress, which can impact an individual's overall well-being, not to mention seriously damaging your health.

From Trauma, Beliefs Are Born - That Don’t Serve You

In my work I’ve encountered every conceivable trauma, beginning at birth and continuing throughout life. Essentially anytime there’s a big emotional response to a trigger, even if it was ‘accidental’, the brain is going to record that and activate the stress response every single time you encounter the stimuli.

I wrote about one such ‘accidental’ trauma that lead to PTSD being triggered in the Pandemic on my practice blog. You can read about that here: James Lifelong Fear of Sickness Cured

PTSD is different in that it has an ongoing effect over your daily life that a single traumatic event doesn’t. At least not in any obvious way …

Both are created in similar ways. Both arise when the brain perceives danger caused by a powerful strong emotion in combination with the trigger.

Out of the trauma, beliefs will be born. That’s something you rarely read about in literature. But it’s what my work has shown me.

Even a first day of pre-school can lead to a strong belief that “I’m not safe” which can manifest later as a fear of being negatively judged or not accepted by our peers. This belief can in turn cause anxiety in the child around their peers which can lead to bullying.

Bullies are often traumatised people who’s desire not to be afraid, turns them into someone who uses fear as a weapon. It is also a reflection of their low self esteem. People will unconsciously try to ‘rise above’ others as a way to show they are not the worthless person a part of them believes they are.

Trauma Created Beliefs Condition Our Reactions

The way we react to others, the expectations we have, our self worth and motivations are all held within our subconscious mind. Fear is a major driving force in our avoidance of tasks, people and even … moving forward.

Your brain is trained to move away from fear … towards pleasure. Even when that doesn’t make any rational sense!

See another case study of someone who’s unconscious pain drove them away from their success (until it didn’t!) : Delinking Trauma Leads To Success

Without fail in the decades I have worked with people from every walk of life, I have always found the root of a limiting belief came from a traumatic experience.

Those traumatic experiences don’t have to be the sort that would create a PTSD event, but it’s always this combination:

Thought + Experience + High Emotion = Belief

Here’s some examples of how a moment in time can lead to a trauma with lasting effects:

• feeling unsafe on your first day of school

• the shock that your best friend has been disloyal to you

• an accident

• a parent driving too close to the river as ‘joke’ (true story)

• standing in front of your class to read

• your parent losing their temper

• being lost (even for seconds)

• being bullied

• being hit (even a slap)

• being stuck (can’t get out)

• a teacher who shames you

• an inappropriate touch

You get the picture. These can be single moments in time that due to the profound emotional reaction, are embedded in the mind as a belief. Sometimes these experiences actually trigger a Phobia. Phobia’s are similar to trauma in that they are instantly recorded sensory experiences that the brain will determine you must avoid at all costs thereafter. They can … be dangerous, they are usually only treated when the sufferer decides it’s impacting their life more than they are prepared to accept.

The Impact of Trauma and PTSD

Traumatic experiences can arise from various sources, including accidents, abuse, witnessing distressing events, or even hearing about them. These highly emotional experiences can leave a lasting impact on your confidence, self-esteem, and self-worth.

Additionally, there are those dastardly hidden beliefs!

The more common symptoms of trauma and PTSD include repetitive thoughts about the traumatic event, nightmares or disturbing dreams related to the trauma, chronic stress symptoms such as anxiety and depression, hyperarousal or heightened anxiety, emotional numbness or detachment from others, negative changes in beliefs or worldview, persistent feelings of guilt, shame, or self-blame, difficulty concentrating or focusing on tasks, and social withdrawal or isolation.

Though many of those symptoms are more closely linked to the diagnosis of PTSD but you’ll see some similarities from a traumatic event.

The thing is … in my work we can collapse the emotional charge that held the belief or triggered reaction using techniques like Hypnotherapy and EMDR.

Not everyone can either afford the treatments or have some anxiety about approaching a therapist.

Trauma & PTSD Recovery With Hypnosis & Meditation

Let’s explore how these practices can promote healing.

Meditation and hypnosis audios have emerged as highly effective tools in the treatment of trauma and PTSD. In a study conducted on military veterans with PTSD, it was found that MBSR, mindfulness based stress reduction (meditation techniques), showed promising results. Another study in those suffering chronic sleep disturbances following PTSD, showed Hypnosis to be highly effective in reducing symptoms.

Bessel Van Der Kolk is a well-known trauma expert who has done extensive research on the effects of trauma on your body and mind. He has written extensively about the benefits of meditation for trauma recovery, and his work has highlighted several key ways in which meditation can help you to heal from trauma:

1. Mind-body connection: As Van Der Kolk notes, trauma is stored not only in your mind, but also in your body. Meditation can help you become more aware of the sensations in your body, and can help you develop a greater sense of connection between your mind and body. This can be particularly helpful when you have experienced trauma, as it can help you release tension and trauma stored in your body.

2. Self-regulation: Trauma can disrupt the body's natural self-regulation systems, making it difficult for you to manage your emotions and physical sensations. Meditation can help you develop greater self-regulation skills, which can help you manage your emotions and physical sensations more effectively.

3. Mindfulness: Meditation can help you develop greater mindfulness, or a non-judgmental awareness of the present moment. This can be particularly helpful as it can help you become more aware of your emotions and physical sensations, and can help you learn to respond to these experiences in a more adaptive way.

4. Relaxation: Meditation can help you reduce stress and tension in your body, which is essential if you’ve suffered trauma. By helping you relax, meditation can help you feel more safe and comfortable in your body, and can help you release tension and trauma stored in your body.

Overall, Van Der Kolk's work highlights the ways in which meditation can be a powerful tool for trauma recovery. By helping you become more aware of your body, develop self-regulation skills, practice mindfulness, and relax, meditation can help you release tension and trauma stored in your body, and can help you heal from the effects of trauma.

It’s also true that when we begin to reconnect with our ‘selves’ through meditation, mindfulness and hypnosis practices, we begin to notice the underlying causes or thinking and beliefs that are driving our physical tension.

Given that in my work I learned long before Neuroscience joined the study, when you are relaxed in mind and body, you are more able to release negative emotions, challenge and change negative limiting beliefs and finally … let go of the past so you can channel your energies on the best future you can make!

Using Professional Meditation and Hypnosis Audios for Trauma Recovery

At Enhanced Life, I am committed to providing my clients and members of the academy, with the resources you need to support your healing journey. My professional meditation and hypnosis audios are designed to complement traditional therapies and provide you with valuable tools for managing and processing trauma-related emotions. These audios are tailored to your unique needs and promote self-awareness, relaxation, and emotional regulation.

For example, my guided meditation audios use visualization and mindfulness techniques to help you cultivate a sense of inner peace and calm. These audios are designed to reduce anxiety and stress, enhance emotional regulation, and promote overall well-being.

Similarly, my hypnosis audios use guided visualisation and linguistic patterns to help you reframe negative beliefs and overcome trauma-related emotions. These audios can be used to promote relaxation, reduce anxiety and depression, and develop greater resilience in the face of challenges.

Trauma Recovery With Professional Guided Meditation & Hypnosis

Meditation and hypnosis audios are powerful tools for promoting healing and recovery from trauma and PTSD. These practices complement traditional therapies and provide you with valuable resources for managing and processing trauma-related emotions.

Below you’ll find a unique therapeutic meditation and hypnosis audio to support you in recovery from historical trauma. The entry fee is under £5 a month and provides you with access to every unique meditation, hypnosis and mindfulness audio session that is already published, plus unique new audio sessions published every month!

Remember … as a member you can get in touch to request your specific session focus eg motivation for fitness, confidence in public speaking, overcome surgery anxiety and more!

Check out the members content page listed in the main menu to see which sessions are already live.

Get Access To Professional Meditation & Hypnosis Sessions Today!

As a paid member, you will get access to all the sessions now and those added weekly within the Enhanced Life membership. You can also send your requests for new sessions to be created in the future. Be as specific as you like!