PTSD/Trauma

What is PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder)?

PTSD or Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is a condition in which people have been left psychologically scarred by their experience of trauma. You can find out more about PTSD in this blog post. Symptoms of the condition include low mood, hypervigilance (when you feel like you have to keep on your toes/on edge), feeling numb, feelings of anger, fear, shame, or guilt; nightmares and flashbacks (the experience of reliving the incident as if it’s occurring all over again), sleep disturbances, various physiological issues, memory issues, feelings of detachment and dissociation.

These symptoms can be very distressing for both the person suffering and their friends, family and loved ones.

What is trauma?

Trauma is usually perceived as the psychological damage that a person suffers from a serious and distressing event(s). A traumatic event could be something like being in an accident, being a victim of crime or bullying, sexual abuse including childhood sexual abuse or anything that has left the person deeply affected and unable to stop themselves from reliving the event.

However, I really like a description of trauma by specialist Dr. Paul Conti who describes trauma as ‘anything that overwhelms your nervous system’ so you feel like you cannot cope. This can mean different things to different people. What is traumatic for one person does not necessarily need to be traumatic for someone else.
Moreover, it could be a cumulation of ‘little traumas’ that we experiece as children that can also have a lasting impact on our psyche. For instance, a repeated rejection, bullying, criticism, basic needs not being met, emotional neglect and so on.

A stricter medical definition of psychological trauma would be that trauma has to involve actual or threatened death – either affecting you, being witnessed by you or being discovered by you. However, as I’ve outlined, it is possible for people to experience symptoms as a result of distressing experiences that fall outside of this criteria.

How can hypnotherapy and psychotherapy be used to treat PTSD?

The symptoms of PTSD can often seem like a negative form of hypnotic trance; sufferers can feel like they’re observing their own experiences from a distance and aren’t anchored in this reality. Because of this similarity to a trance state though, hypnotherapy combined with psychotherapy can be an effective form of treatment. In my own practice working with clients with trauma and PTSD on a regular basis, I noticed that nightmares, sleep disturbances and hypervigilance that pretty much every person affected by trauma experieces, tend to be the first resolved symptoms after the person starts therapy. This can be very encouraging as the client starts noticing changes fairly early on. Even getting proper sleep after many years of not being able to, can be a huge relief.

Online therapy sessions for PTSD and trauma

If circumstances or distance mean that you’re not able to meet in person, I am also able to offer online therapy sessions for PTSD and trauma.

How can you book a therapy session for trauma or PTSD?

To arrange a booking with me in Larbert or even just to find out more, please contact me using the form below.

    Where am I based?

    I’m based in Larbert, Stirlingshire. If you’re not sure how close that is to you, I’m:

    • 3.5 Miles from Falkirk (direct trains)
    • 9.1 Miles from Stirling (direct trains)
    • 9.9 Miles from Cumbernauld
    • 12.3 Miles from Linlithgow
    • 12.5 Miles from Alloa (direct trains)
    • 18 Miles from Dunfermline
    • 22.7 Miles from Glasgow (direct trains)
    • 30.7 Miles from Edinburgh (direct trains)