Many hypnotherapists will use versions of what is called inner child work. There are several formal definitions of the Inner child. Few hypnotherapists use these definitions rigidly. Within the context of hypnotherapy, the inner child is most often represented as:

A part of the mind which has been traumatised. As a traumatised part it has broken off and become separate.

This is sometimes called a wounded inner child. This traumatised part is often represented as a child because it was created by childhood psychological trauma.

• Note – There are joyful and playful variants of the inner child. These are less commonly engaged with in hypnotherapy.

The creation of an inner child through trauma.

An inner child may be created by a single trauma, or several lesser traumas. Children do the best they can with what they have got. What they have to work with is often restricted by society and their lack of life experience. As a result, they tend to adopt strategies which are imperfect. The child will have found a way to protect themselves emotionally from the trauma by separating (dissociating) themselves from the emotional pain. In the process they will have developed an inner child.

How inner child behaviours manifest.

There are two things tend to result from the presences of a wounded inner child:

1. From time to time the Inner child takes over – Frequently this takes the form of meltdowns, tantrums and behaving in a way which matches or mirrors the origin trauma.
2. Coping strategies are adopted – These are often behaviours which allow for the person to move out of their mental pain such as: drug use, excessive eating, self-harm, arguing and fighting. Alternatively, they may be externalised behaviours such as arguing, fighting or vandalism.

How would a hypnotherapist work with an Inner child

There are several likely steps to this process:

• Initial work will be done to ensure the patient is in a strong mental potion for the subsequent work.
• They will access the inner child through the imagination in a hypnotic state. This may be done by eliciting the inner child’s voice or by imagining them them. In this way communication between the patient and the Inner child can be initiated.
• Communication is conducted between patient and the inner child. This may be done to understand the development of the inner child and what it is doing, or reassure it that it is accepted and safe.
• Reintergration will be sought. This may be after a single session or several encounters. The aim of the reintegration is to bring the experience which the inner child developed to help with back into the whole. This allows for the development of a new way of being informed by the wider adult understanding and opportunities.

Does it work?

With the right patient, at the right time, Inner child work can produce powerful shifts which can appear to be almost miraculous. However, with most patients it opens them up to change which will require behaviour change techniques to capitalise upon. Following Inner child work such techniques as…

• Direct hypnotic suggestion.
• Desensitisation.
• Goal setting.
• EMDR.

…may be used to help the patient create lasting change.

Dr Matt Krouwel PhD is a Birmingham based hypnotherapist with over 25 years experience. He has taught hypnotherapy around the world at private institutions and medical schools. He is a member of both the BSCH and the NCH.

The post What is inner child work in hypnotherapy? appeared first on Matthew Krouwel Hypnotherapist.

• In life regression – This is where a person revisits an earlier point in their life.
• Esoteric or past life regression – This is when someone visits an earlier life. As only a small percentage of people believe in past lives this form of regression is more controversial than in-life regression.

It is important to clarify which you mean when discussing these as they are often confused.

Characteristics of a regression

A regression is a specific state and as this state matters therapeutically it can be helpful to understand it. There are couple of things which a regression is not.

1. Regression is not remembering – Remembering is the act of being in the present time and calling up memories of the past. The key feature being that you are grounded in the present. Hypnosis is associated with increased recall (hypermnesia) but this is used in different ways to regression.
2. Regression is not reliving – Reliving is when you are so deeply in the past that you act and recall as if back then. Say you had returned to the age of seven you would respond as a seven-year-old and possess no memories beyond the age of seven. When someone mentally returns to the past this full it is referred to as revivification. Such states have value

So, what is regression?

Regression is…

… returning to the past with a degree of awareness of everything which has happened since. You go back to the age of seven and are experiencing much of it as if it were happening now but maintain an awareness that you are older.

This has potentially great therapeutic value as you may be seeing and experiencing things with more experienced eyes.

Why conduct a hypnotic regression?

Regressions are done for one of several reasons, such as:

• To help remember the origin of a problem – By gaining insight into the origin of a problem a client will feel more in control. This approach would be used when the origin is unknown but it runs the risk of creating a false memory if not handled skilfully.
• To release trapped emotional energy at the start of a problem – This is sometimes known as catharsis. Catharsis is frequently powerful, often to a level that can resolve a problem. However, most commonly catharsis is a release of energy which opens the door for change, but other approaches are required to make that change permanent. Catharsis is so powerful that there is the potential for re-traumatisation. As such many therapists will avoid it wherever possible and only allow it under highly supported circumstances.
• To alter problem behaviour by changing the perception of the initial experience – By returning to a known event and experiencing it with an older (wiser) perception the mind can recontextualise it within that mature understanding. What was devastating as a child, is something that you have survived as an adult.
• Other reasons – Sometimes a hypnotherapist will be asked to conduct regressions to help recover lost information. They may also be asked to help someone in their philosophical or spiritual journey.

Dangers and limitations of hypnotic regression

Anyone can regress spontaneously, but a hypnotic regression should be carefully managed by a professional to reduce the risk of problems arising. The two most important factors are

• Appropriate psychological preparedness – A hypnotherapist should ensure that their client is in a strong psychological state prior to any regression. This is done by using psychological control exercise and ego strengthening suggestions. Typically, a hypnotherapist will not conduct a regression on the first session.
• Careful questioning – By using open questions and avoiding leading questions the therapist reduces the chance of a false memory being created.

Dr Matt Krouwel PhD is a hypnotherapist based in Birmingham (UK) with over 25 years experience. He has taught hypnotherapy around the world at private institutions and medical schools. He is a member of both the BSCH and the NCH

The post What is hypnotic Regression? appeared first on Matthew Krouwel Hypnotherapist.

Psychodynamics in hypnotherapy

There are many approaches and techniques in the modern hypnotherapist’s tool kit which have their roots in the psychodynamic. Here are a few examples:

• Regressions – Regression is psychologically travelling back to an earlier point in life. They may even go back to a previous life if this fits the patient’s belief system. This is done to uncover the origin point of a certain behaviour. As the patient retains much of their mature awareness during the regression they bring a more worldly-wise perspective to that experience. This allows insight into how the behaviours developed. Alternatively, it may allow  the safe release of trapped emotional power.
• Parts therapy – In this the unconscious is perceived as made up of multiple different ‘parts’. Each part has a different role which has developed in response to life learning. Sometimes a part no longer works effectively. This is usually because life circumstances have changed but a part has not adapted. By engaging with the part, or several parts, the hypnotherapist attempts to get the part to adjust to the new circumstances and reintegrate in to the whole self. Parts can also become dissociated and may need help in becoming reintegrated within the whole.
• Inner child/ younger self visualisation – From a hypnotherapy perceptive the inner child, or younger self, represents a dissociated younger version of the self. The disassociation usually occurs due to some traumatic life experience, or period of difficulty. This dissociated younger self may need to be reintegrated into the person as a whole to help them become truly psychologically whole.
• Symbolic representations – There are many approaches which seek to initiate psychodynamic change using commonly understood metaphors. Good examples of this are visualisation approaches where people organise their inner world into boxes or by imagining cleaning a house. They may build a better mindset through the metaphor of constructing something or repairing it. Archetypes may be invoked by going on a quest to seek a wise person. Often such visualisations will be created in response to imagery which has been suggested by something the patient said.

Hypnotherapy claims a particular access to the unconscious which has led to the development of therapy techniques that look to create unconscious change without bringing things into conscious awareness. It is theorised that this means there is less conscious resistance to change.

Unconscious psychodynamic techniques

Occasionally a hypnotherapist will use a technique that is intended to create change unconsciously by initiating unconscious processing.

• Ideomotor response (IMR) approaches – An IMR is a small unconscious movement which the hypnotherapist can install in a patient via suggestion to aid with communication with the unconscious. Sometimes an IMR process will be used  to create psychodynamic change. The therapist will install IMR indicators and then set the unconscious to make a change. Parameters intended to ensure safety will be given. Neither the hypnotherapist nor the patient is likely to be aware of what exactly is happening, but the IMR will let the hypnotherapist know when the change has been done.
• Amnesia – Suggestions for amnesia can be given for the therapy to make it unconscious. The therapy itself could be suggestions, visualisations or any other technique the therapist chooses. By making the patient consciously forget what has happened the work becomes unconscious and thus operates without conscious resistance.

For many people psychodynamic change may be their whole therapeutic journey. However, to achieve specific change it is usual in modern hypnotherapy to integrate direct change work, such as direct suggestions or behavioural techniques. Further, most hypnotherapists will start with direct change work unless psychodynamics are clearly indicated.

The author

Dr Matt Krouwel PhD is a hypnotherapist based in Birmingham (UK) and is a member of both the BSCH and the NCH. He has taught hypnotherapy students internationally about psychodynamics in hypnotherapy.

The post Psychodynamics in hypnotherapy appeared first on Matthew Krouwel Hypnotherapist.