When working with clients during psychotherapy, I sometimes encounter a situation where the client remembers some childhood event, usually a painful traumatic event, but only partially, and the main events are like a blank spot – says family psychologist Agnieška Kašinska. Our psyche has the ability to push out painful experiences that cannot be realized and processed. When a person knows that something happened or could have happened, but is unable to remember, it is very frightening and disturbing.
The most common fear people come to me with is the fear that I’m not enough the way I am. This leads to tension, a desire to control my environment, a belief that I don’t deserve a good life, and sometimes even a desire to sabotage or punish myself.
We talk to hypnotherapist and regressionologist Viktorija Hollstein about how regression hypnotherapy can help reveal childhood traumas.
1. Speaking of childhood traumas, how can regression hypnotherapy help?
Well, trauma is a very strong word. We, hypnotherapists and regressionologists, like another combination of words – emotional imprints. These emotional imprints can different intensity. For one, an imprint is formed after the divorce of parents, after experiencing physical or psychological violence, and for another, simply after seeing an angry dog behind a fence or getting a stain on a beloved dress.
Often, we do not even realize that one or another event has created an emotional imprint that has an impact on our later life.
Regression hypnotherapy can help us discover what emotional imprints influence our current beliefs, fears, emotional state, and other important aspects of our lives.
Another case when hypnotherapy can help is when we cannot remember painful traumatic events, or we remember them only partially. If necessary, regression hypnotherapy can help revive images from the past.
2. What are the most common fears of patients?
Well, if we talk about the fears, the most common fear is that I am not enough the way I am. This leads to tension, a desire to control the environment, a belief that I am not worthy of a good life, sometimes even a desire to sabotage or punish myself.
If we talk about why people may be afraid of the regression hypnotherapy session itself, then the main reason is – what if I cannot be hypnotized? What if I can’t see anything?. So I have to reassure you here – therapeutic hypnosis works for absolutely everyone. It is better to try it once than to be afraid all the time.
3. How to continue treatment after a regression hypnotherapy session?
Since there are so many and very diverse cases, there is no single answer. Sometimes a person is enough for just one hypnotherapy session. Sometimes for further treatment I recommend contacting a psychologist or therapist to continue working with painful memories.
4. Advice you would like to share
Everything that happened has already happened. Whatever it was – you have already experienced it, it will not happen again. Today you are only dealing with the impact of that the event. But it is necessary to deal with this impact. You are not responsible for the pain you experienced, but you are responsible for how you deal with it today.
Therefore, do not be afraid of therapy. Psychotherapy, hypnotherapy, any therapy that suits you. Choose the right specialist for you and embark on a journey of self-discovery. Many wonderful discoveries await you.
Family psychologist Agnieška Kašinska
Hypnotherapist and regressionologist Viktorija Hollstein