Just this month, Dutch researchers announced research showing that electroconvulsive 
therapy (ECT) can be used to erase memories, raising hopes of a new treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder.
Stress may be triggered by an event or episode but once a person learns to recognise stress triggers, they can learn to introduce new, alternative behaviour when experiencing a stress trigger. For this reason, a qualified therapist from the National Council for Hypnotherapy (NCH) will use hypnosis will help a person recognise stress triggers and, while in the hypnotic state, be better able to see alternative perspectives and behaviours in stressful situations.
This is a non-invasive treatment, unlike using ECT which passes electric pulses through the brain. Dr Marijn Kroes, of the Radboud University Nijmegen, who led the Dutch study, said the treatment appears to disrupt the natural process of storing memories in the brain.
Paul White, a member of the NCH, says: “Stress may cause confused thinking, depression, over-eating, excessive drinking, reckless driving, high blood pressure, heart problems, and a myriad of other health problems.
“The symptoms of stress are sometimes insidious and undetectable, until one day you feel overwhelmed with life. Everything bothers you, from your work to your favourite pet at home. You may even start doubting your sanity. All of this results in the feeling of being out of control.”
Hypnotherapy should not be a last-resort stress treatment like ECT. A hypnotherapy practitioner will treat a client’s problems with sensitivity and understanding and will discuss and explain any decisions regarding a treatment plan thoroughly before treatment begins or any changes are implemented.
“Memories are stored in connections between cells in your brain,” Kroes said. However, these connections take some time to become permanent. But he added: “If you disturb this process, you lose the connection between cells altogether” – and thus lose the memory.
ECT is still used in the Netherlands, Britain and many other countries as a last-resort treatment for severe depression.
But some PTSD sufferers find that hypnotherapy treatment is beneficial and |many sufferers have experienced success with the treatment.
The aim of hypnotherapy is to unlock stored emotion so that the trauma can be revisited and explored from a different perspective and there are various forms of hypnotherapy a practitioner may use and in order to determine which is the most suitable.
In some cases, a therapist could use cognitive hypnotherapy or analytical hypnotherapy, both of which function on a deeper level than suggestion hypnotherapy and are able to work with the unconscious mind so that negative beliefs which were built up during the trauma can be explored and alleviated.
So, if you are suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, try a hypnotherapist by clicking here for the National Council for Hypnotherapy’s directory.
