Johannes von Gwinner
Hypnosis and Trauma Therapy in Berlin and Online
Hypnosis and Trauma Therapy
Many people experience a traumatic event in the course of their lives. When psychological trauma develops from it, in many cases it remains unrecognised and untreated – even though a great deal is known today about trauma and effective ways of healing it.
Contents
What is trauma?
Psychological trauma is an emotional injury resulting from an overwhelming event – such as a natural disaster, an accident or an act of violence (e.g. abuse). Such an event may have been so threatening to the life or physical integrity of those affected, or of people close to them, that it often triggers feelings of extreme loss of control, fear or pain.
What triggers trauma
Trauma usually develops out of one specific experience or a series of similar, overwhelming experiences. Sometimes longer-term strain can be the trigger as well, and other mental health conditions may follow from it. Painful experiences in childhood – separation, neglect or rejection, for example – are circumstances that can also express themselves in a corresponding anxiety disorder.
Consequences of a traumatic event
People differ greatly in how susceptible they are to trauma following extremely stressful situations. After such an event, what is understood as trauma in the narrower sense – so-called post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) – therefore does not always develop. In most cases an acute stress reaction occurs first, typically arising a few minutes after the distressing event and subsiding again within hours or days. If the symptoms last longer than a month, we speak of PTSD.
What trauma symptoms are there?
The symptoms trauma can produce are as varied as the many forms trauma itself takes. Trauma arising from an experience of abuse, for example, can show up quite differently from trauma that developed after witnessing a serious accident. Even before any of this is recognised, however, many people suffer from subtle, persistent or regularly recurring symptoms that they often cannot clearly attribute to a particular trigger. Nevertheless, there are also specific symptoms that frequently occur as a consequence of trauma.
Trauma responses
What most forms of psychological trauma have in common is a kind of so-called trauma response. Forms or elements of fight, flight or freeze – healthy reactions to dangerous or stressful situations that were essential to survival in evolutionary terms – then appear in an extreme form, or persist below the surface over a long period instead of subsiding once the situation has passed. Again and again these reactions are triggered by the subconscious, even though the actual situation is no longer life-threatening, for example. These reactions are also experienced as so-called panic attacks. Out of this, a destructive way of relating to oneself or to other people can develop, which in turn brings further physical or emotional problems. A predominance of negative emotions, depression, irritability, numbness or social withdrawal are only some of the many possible effects. Physically, a trauma response can make itself felt through lasting hyperarousal, tension or sleep disturbances, among other things.
Reliving the event
Stress and flashbacks, in which those affected consciously or unconsciously experience the traumatic event again, often occur in connection with cues pointing to some aspect of the trauma. Survivors of a plane crash may fall into such a state and feel panic-stricken fear again simply on hearing an aircraft. Yet the traumatic event is frequently relived without any external cue as well, in the form of involuntary, recurring memories or through nightmares. Because these can feel very real, many people report considerable distress here too. In some cases the memory of the traumatic event is fragmentary, and causes and consequences are perceived in a distorted way. Those affected may feel, for instance, as though they were themselves to blame, even though they in fact had no influence on the traumatising situation.
Avoidance behaviour
An unpleasant experience is often followed by the natural impulse to steer clear of the situations, triggers, memories or feelings connected with it in future. It is not only in extreme forms of trauma that such distressing experiences sometimes give rise to an anxiety disorder. Air travel, social challenges or relationships, for example, can thereby become so-called triggering situations that are avoided wherever possible – provided those affected are aware of them. While this approach can bring temporary relief, it is not a lasting solution, because an underlying PTSD usually does not heal by itself and may even become more entrenched over time. An appropriate psychotherapeutic approach can prevent this and allow those who are suffering to live more freely again.
Unconscious or repressed trauma
The many possible forms of trauma are alike in that they often go unnoticed for a long time while placing an unconscious burden on the psyche. Those affected are not always aware of their trauma, but only of the physical and psychological symptoms it causes. Psychotherapeutic treatment is therefore advisable even when it is unclear whether trauma is present at all. It can happen that there is genuinely no memory of the triggering situation, or that this memory is unconsciously pushed out of awareness. In other cases the actual trauma is remembered, but not recognised as such – it is treated as a memory like any other. The situation is thus perceived as „normal“, even though it has left clear psychological traces. If violent outbursts of parental rage were endured in childhood, for example, this may be played down with the thought that, after all, every child has had angry parents at some point. The loss of a close person, experiences of abuse and many other potentially traumatising events can be justified in the same way as a form of self-protection.
How can trauma be treated?
To be able to treat trauma effectively, one first has to understand it well. On the one hand it helps those affected to understand how PTSD develops and is maintained in general; on the other, understanding the individual trauma is the key to an equally individual solution. To achieve this, therapy can gently approach the thoughts, emotions, physical sensations and precise circumstances of a triggering situation.
Working with emotions
Almost every trauma brings its own distressing emotions with it, evoked by particular cues or when the event is relived. Avoiding them completely, however, not infrequently leads to further limitations, which is why learning to work with the intensity of these emotions is an important element of trauma therapy. After this initially uncomfortable approach – instead of avoidance – the emotions concerned are over time no longer perceived as overwhelmingly intense and thus lose their terror. Those affected can live normally again. Working through the traumatic experience and the emotions linked to it – in conversation, for example, or in hypnosis according to Milton Erickson – is often an intense process, but one that paves the way for great relief. It can be compared to a fire smouldering for years in a bog with barely any oxygen. If oxygen is eventually allowed to reach the source, an open flame flares up, which can then, however, be extinguished quickly and for good
Emotions in the body
All emotions take place in the body, which is why working with them can also be learned through the body. Sometimes this is even simpler and more intuitive than going via the mind. It is no coincidence, after all, that expressions such as „gut feeling“ or „burning pain“ have found their way into our everyday language: many of those affected initially cannot say precisely what their trauma arose from, but can name very clearly how and where in the body they perceive particular emotions in this context.
The consequences of a traumatic past therefore make themselves felt in far more than psychological symptoms alone. In the „fight, flight, freeze“ response typical of trauma it is the automatic physical processes that come to the fore, which is why these are a useful starting point for treatment. So-called body-oriented therapeutic approaches are based on working with these physical processes and bringing them under control in the relevant situations. Shallow breathing and tension in the neck muscles are good examples of such reactions when cues are encountered, and they can be counteracted through exercises and awareness. Breathing exercises or looking closely at and describing one’s surroundings can, for instance, bring those affected „back“ out of a panic response into the here and now. What is unique about these techniques is that they can help even when the actual trauma is still unknown.
The traumatic past and hypnosis
Can the past be healed?
While easing physical reactions can bring great improvement, working with past, distressing experiences is another essential part of therapy. Everyday therapeutic practice shows that the past is indeed „healable“ in a certain sense. The past as such no longer exists except in our memory and in the subconscious. With hypnosis it is possible, so to speak, to go into precisely this area of the subconscious and of memory, to find answers there and to establish lasting solutions. This does not mean that the painful experiences of childhood or later traumas are no longer part of one’s own biography. Rather, new, healing, less painful chapters exist alongside the previous ones and overlay them, so that the chapters still to come can be written unburdened once again.
Hypnosis and Leela Therapy help.
Hypnosis as part of Leela Therapy is an effective instrument and can provide lasting help in many situations of trauma recovery and in phases of emotional distress.
With Leela Therapy Berlin, a kind of spiritually oriented psychotherapy, the aim is to build on this and to leave behind and transform the old patterns and identifications that create suffering.
Combining hypnotherapy according to Milton H. Erickson, mindfulness training and the teaching of the Enneagram, I offer clients suffering from trauma various possibilities for treatment and support (a selection):
- Releasing traumatic events through hypnotherapeutic methods such as work with childhood, a journey into the past with possibilities of healing through „change and support“. Transformation of trauma and traumatic events.
- Support with grief and bereavement.
- Hypnotherapeutic interventions for encounters with people from the past or present, to bring closure to unfinished or persistently burdensome connections (Soul Connection).
- Support for self-healing and finding root causes.
- Hypnosis methods for strengthening self-esteem and for overcoming fears and trauma responses.
- Deeply relaxing trance states, beneficial for the body, the nervous system and the psyche.
A client’s account:
„It was very good for me to get into the position of sinking into the situation that weighed on me in my daily life and letting myself go. But it always felt as though I didn’t have to achieve anything or meet any expectations. That created trust in me and a feeling of relaxation. Johannes allowed me to look at my situation without wanting to change anything. He allowed me to feel the different aspects of the conflict and at the same time to be with them. In this way I could integrate both sides, which felt powerful. I felt connected to my inner wishes and stopped fighting, which felt wonderful. I could see that there is a strong power in integrating, accepting and allowing vulnerability.
With this mixture of hypnosis and spiritual psychotherapy you can sink into experiences and feelings that are normally hidden and protected. But I never felt forced; I could always decide how deep I wanted to go.“
Arrange a no-obligation consultation
- I’ll be happy to advise you individually and with no obligation at 030 54907420 or by email: office@johannes-gwinner.com
- Leave your contact details below and I’ll be glad to get back to you.
- Book a free consultation online here:
10179 Berlin (Mitte)
(Buzzer: Körperraum Mitte, 2nd floor, left)
Telefon — Mail
More stories from my clients.
Information on prices and packages for hypnosis and psychotherapy in Berlin Mitte.
Frequently asked questions about trauma therapy
How do I know whether I have experienced trauma?
Can trauma therapy help if I cannot remember anything?
Will I have to relive the distressing event?
How does trauma therapy with hypnosis work?
How many sessions will I need?
What does a session cost, and does health insurance pay?
Kostenlose Beratung buchen, ca. 15 Min
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Contact
10179 Berlin (Mitte)
(Buzzer: Körperraum Mitte, 2nd floor, left)
Telefon — Mail
+49 30 54907420
office@johannes-gwinner.com
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