Hypnosis and NLP For Trauma By Gemma Bailey

As discussed in the article titled “Post Traumatic Stress Disorder” http://www.gemmabailey.co.uk/PTSD.htm both hypnosis and NLP can have a positive benefit to those dealing with trauma symptoms.

Of course each trauma should be dealt with based on the individuals circumstances and feelings at that time, so there are no hard and fast rules to follow. But here are some points to consider.

A person who has experienced a trauma is often in a victim state. This is because the incident that occurred gave them limited choices in the responses they could formulate at that particular time. They probably felt as if the circumstances that occurred were out of their control or were perhaps trapped and/or in danger. It important to highlight that these suggestion will only work for those whose trauma is in the past and is over. For those who are still living in a traumatic situation, a slightly different approach must be taken to help support that person in making some new decisions about how to react in that situation now and in the future.

It is essential that the trauma victim is able to access feeling of safety and security at any time during the work you do together. This is because of the risk of abreaction during the therapeutic processes you undertake. A resource anchor can be an effective way of getting the client into a positive and resourceful state quickly and easily though you must be sure that the intensity of the resource anchor is significantly stronger than that of any potential traumatic emotion that might show up during the sessions you have together.

It is important to get the client to recognise the responsibility they have in creating their own thoughts and emotions. Acknowledge that the event happened and that it was (past tense) and very bad event. In addition, the event itself is no longer occurring, only the memory of what the event was or how the event affected the nervous system is reoccurring and this is something that the client is now doing to themselves, and is no longer something that is being forced upon them. In addition to this very important point, you must teach and share this in a sensitive way so that you do not appear to be blaming the client for their own thought and feelings. This is not useful for them. What is useful is to use words such as “empowerment” and “taking control now” and “choosing what emotions to feel and when to feel them.”

There are some things that no amount of NLP or Hypnosis training can provide. What you might call the X factor that some and few therapists possess. I have seen it very rarely in those that I have trained with. It’s the ability to totally and completely turn someone ideas and thinking on it’s head by providing a reframe (a new way of looking at the perspective they currently have.) In doing so you open up their mind to a new or many new ways of thinking. You’ve probably had a situation where you have got something stuck in you mind and you keep thinking about it, and the more you think about it the more unreasonable and hard done by you seem to be. Then someone says something to you about that thing that completely changes your ideas it. Every technique in NLP is really reframe because the general idea of NLP is that it gives you that “Aha!” moment. That insight of “Oh I’d never really though about it in that way before…” The challenge most therapists face is using this skill a) verbally without any “formal” change technique which is sometimes not appropriate. (There is a version of the NLP Change Personal History Technique which involves blowing up balloons full of the necessary emotional resources and giving them to the younger you at the time of the traumatic event. It’s a great technique and for that reason I think can be overused by therapists. You need to talk it through with your client. If they’re too worried about looking like a wally blowing up imaginary balloons, it just isn’t the right thing to do!)

b) Being comfortable using conversational change in a way that isn’t necessarily going to make the client feel immediately pleasant but perhaps gets them to feel sympathetic or understanding or any other range of emotions other than what they were stuck feeling before you started working with them.

I remember working with a man who had been abused as a child by another child. He spoke a lot of his hate for this other child and what they had done to him, how this other child had ruined his life. I thought that by getting him to associate back how it felt to be a child that he might start to consider that the abusing child was perhaps not evil, but perhaps confused, curious or scared. This didn’t happen. It made him even more adamant that the abusing child was evil. I then said to him “Who do you think was abusing the abusing child?” His face went white and tensed up. His eyes narrowed and he gasped for breath. “What do you mean?! No! I was the victim not them!” he gasped. Having recently undertaken some child protection training I was then able to back up my statement with some facts and figure about the numbers of children that abuse, who are doing so because they are being/have been abused themselves. Did he feel immediately positive- No. But it did break his pattern and get him thinking about his abuser in a whole new way. He was later able to think of his abuser as the victim and in feeling that way a lot of the feeling of hate dispersed.

There are a variety of ways in which hypnosis can be beneficial to treat trauma. Regression can be used to enable the client to notice details about the trauma that were not noticed before. This can offer them the new perspective they seek when remembering the event in the future as well as offering the opportunity to re-enact the event in a new way- saying or doing what should have been said or done that would have made the event a problem no longer. Hypnosis is obviously incredibly beneficial in generating calm and relieving negative emotions associated with the past. When this is done it also gives way to the opportunity to install positive suggestions that the client can utilise in the future. It is also, I feel important to have the client practice using these new positive resources. It is a welcome relief when a client recognises that the event is in the past and exists now only in their mind, but that is not to say that an event like that will not shop up in their lives again in some other way. It is important that the client feels confident that they could deal with a traumatic event in a different way to how they did before. That they can do so in an empowering way without experiencing it as another trauma. This is also something that can be done whilst in hypnosis.

Resource: http://www.isnare.com/?aid=350321&ca=Self

Living in the Present Moment: The Process of Discovery By Timothy Aaron Whiston

Living in the present moment is the key to having full access to your personal power. Only when you release the constant stream of daydreams and mental chatter can you function at full capacity.

When you accept the now you are more alert, relaxed, and energized. Also it is very common to experience spontaneous joy and optimism.

Many spiritual teachers make this point, but due to the experiential nature of present moment mindfulness, people often do not grasp the power of the message. In fact sometimes people look at the process of allowing the now as some sort of chore or work task.

The truth is it’s both natural and easy to let go of your mind and be fully immersed in the present moment. While you may have learned a different way of being from society, centeredness in the moment is your natural state.

When you are able to finally let go, often after a bit of practice, you’ll feel a deep sense of peace and exhilaration wash over you. There is little question that a state of being in the now is our most natural place of presence. Both our bodies and our minds function at full capacity when we are free in the present moment.

Also, living in the now is the only way to have a truly exciting, refreshing life. Rather than resigning yourself to a routine and accepting the mundane nature of life, you can allow each new moment to unfold as it will and bring a new experience into your awareness.

The universe is filled with infinite potential, yet most of us recreate the same events and circumstances over and over for decades until we finally pass from this life. How sad and bizarre that we seem unable to comprehend the unlimited possibilities all around us when we become absorbed in our narrow, habitual view of the world.

Living in the now means to stop pushing and let life flow. Allow the moment to just be what it naturally is.

You’ll discover new things about the body you have lived in for years. And you’ll learn a great deal about the person you really are; it’s very common for people to change dramatically when they stop living in their head and begin living in the real world of now.

You can start embracing the moment by telling yourself each day when you awake that new things are in store for you. Rejoice in the fact that you don’t know exactly what’s coming your way with each new moment and be mindful of the fact that new experiences can enter your life at any time.

With this frame of mind, begin to practice letting go of your thought-state throughout the day. Just step back from the process of constant thought and become aware of your body, your physical surroundings, and the subtle feelings within your body.

Once you begin your pursuit of the truth it’s likely you’ll be hooked for life. The whole world changes when you view it from the lens of now, and not from the prejudicial perspective of constant thinking and reliving of old experiences.

Resource: http://www.isnare.com/?aid=351597&ca=Self

Recognizing if You Have Depression By Steven A Johnson

Millions of people suffer from Depression each year. Depression is made up of different emotions, most people get feelings of loss, frustration, sadness, and disappointment, just to name a few. Someone who has depression doesn’t have a lot of interest in life and has a hard time focusing on tasks at hand. Sometimes they may not want to get out of bed and they don’t want to partake in normal daily activities like going to work or participating in a hobby of theirs.

Two main categories of depression are situational and clinical. Clinical depression symptoms are having thoughts of suicide, uncontrollable negative thoughts, very easily becomes irritated or angry, feelings of hopelessness, sleeping to much or not at all, and loss of appetite, or overeating. Situational depression is pretty normal feelings of sadness that occur when someone goes though a major loss, or the not so lucky things that just happen in life that nothing can change. So you can see here that there is a huge difference between the two.

Every case of depression is going to vary from case to case, every person is different . Some people who have depression say that they don’t feel sad, they feel worthless, blank, empty, almost like the living dead just lifeless. They are incapable of feeling happiness and enjoying anything.

Suicide is a major factor in Depression. Many people that are depressed end up committing or attempting to commit suicide. Depressed people think that sometimes it’s the only way to end the pain and get rid of the feelings they are experiencing. Suicide is a symptom of severe clinical depression and you can not take it seriously enough if someone you know is talking about suicide. There are many hotlines available for help you or someone you know wants to hurt themselves. Most often suicidal persons will give a clue or warning to theirs feelings and theirs intentions. So if you notice any signs that someone you know might be suicidal speak up! Helping them cope with there depression or even just showing that you care may just save their lives.

Some other types of depression involve Dysthymia, maniac depression, postpartum depression, and seasonal affective disorder (SAD). Dysthymia’s symptoms are not as strong as major clinical depression, however, the may last as long as 2 years or more. It has small ups and downs to it. For a few days you may be mildly depressed and then the next few days you may feel better and happier. However, the may last as long as 2 years or more. It has small ups and downs to it. For a few days you may be mildly depressed and then the next few days you may feel better and happier. Maniac depression is another name for bipolar.

A Person with maniac depression usually will have the same symptoms as someone who has severe clinical depression except they have other major mood swings that can last days to weeks and can switch in a matter of days or hours even. Postpartum depression is a very normal depression that happens after a woman has given childbirth. New mothers tend to be very sleep deprived, going through a major lifestyle change and that might be a major cause of it. It can happen up to a year after child birth and sometimes it can get so extreme that a mother may want to hurt her new child or want to ignore and neglect it. Seasonal affective disorder happens in the winter months when the weather is cloudy and gloomy. It is a very normal depression as well.

Depression can actually be very hard to treat. Sometimes, what seems like symptoms of depression are often the same symptoms of something else. It can be hard to tell if the depression is situational or if it really is clinical. In a situational case the treatment can be as easy as changing the situation, but with clinical depression it can be a number of things. Things like a childhood trauma, a social problem loneliness, substance abuse, genetics, a health problems that is very troublesome or a more recent traumatic happening.

But no matter how depressed one person should get, there is always a way to recover. There is so many different treatments and therapies for depression patients the amount of help is endless. There a prescription medications to help, hotlines, therapies, and lots of natural ways to overcome depression. Alternative health supplements some safe and natural products that will help with depression and changing ones mood. The best way to overcome depression is to use a couple methods of treatment together. Talk to a professional to see whether making a life style change would be the answer or try taking a natural herbal supplement. Which ever method may be right for you the first step is to ask for help and know that it is out there and its everywhere.

Resource: http://www.isnare.com/?aid=351887&ca=Self

Self-Empowerment Tips For Women: Finding Your Inner Power Source By Deanna Collins

When people are working towards achieving goals and ambitions, even when times are tough they may turn in many different directions to get some form of support. However, the most successful people are able to achieve their ambitions with the power and strength they find with their inner resources.

The ability for a woman to grab hold of self-empowerment is dependent upon the skills she is able to learn. Empowered women are already on the path leading to accomplishing their goals as well as satisfying the needs of their family, their community as well as their own as individuals. Others have them, but need only develop them further.

The Elements of Empowerment

Whether is be economic, political or social, empowerment has many faces. The reasoning behind many women seeking empowerment could be a matter of personal development. Empowerment allows women to find within themselves the necessary resources needed to overcome hindrances as well as hardships. This whole process feeds on itself. By being a pro-active woman you improve self-esteem and effectiveness, boosting confidence and self-image all while earning the respect of others.

People who are disempowered are often struggling with forces that appear beyond their control—these forces could in fact be the family, the workplace or even the community. With each particular scenario, individual empowerment is a necessary occurrence. Any group empowerment leans heavily on individuals who have already developed their own positive outlook, skills and motivation required to take the steps that can make a difference.

Women Taking Steps towards Empowering Themselves

Even with all that has been done regarding gender discrimination, women are still more likely to experience being disempowered in a multitude of various situations, most often falling into the categories of family and the workplace. There is a solution that is quite clear: women need to take the steps required to search out, build upon and claim their power. This may entail much thought and work in order to achieve a particular goal, but starting with personal empowerment is a great first step.

With this realization of self-potential, women are better equipped to take on more complex problems. There is proof to be clearly seen in this regard worldwide, for example in African and many more under-developed countries in which it’s possible to find women initiatives which have empowered not only themselves but whole communities.

Empowerment Strategies

Education: In order to achieve their personal goals, women must discover ways in which to better equip themselves with knowledge. Knowledge is the key to power, and knowing the available options for the necessary tasks we want to accomplish becomes paramount to making the best possible decisions.

Make positive choices: Education can provide the analytical skills necessary to decision-making and the evaluation of different risks. When you hold a good knowledge base of available choices you have, confident decisions are easier to make.

Positive attitudes and thoughts: With numerous studies having been conducted in the field of psychology, it has been shown how different patterns of negative thinking are in fact alterable with the help of cognitive therapy. A simple journal in which you keep track of your positive achievements could prevent any type of defeatist or pessimistic attitude from having the chance to destroy any individual’s motivation.

Confidence-building and self-esteem: Education and the initiative to keep a track record of even the smallest achievements can boost both confidence and self-esteem. Confidence, knowledge and creative thinking are all part of this larger state of initiative.

Interpersonal/communication skills: Good skills in the area of communication can make it easier for things move forward in life, especially those things that require you to have the ability to be persuasive and co-operative with others.

With the development of skills and awareness, whether it is individually or as a group, women who work towards empowerment with the goal of realizing their full potential will benefit not only themselves but their loved ones as well.

Resource: http://www.isnare.com/?aid=351607&ca=Self