Abreaction when having certain thoughts?

[frenchboy]

I just learned today what an abreaction is during hypnosis and I remember having some kind of shiver when I was under hypnosis when I would hear some suggestions. I am pretty sure that was an abreaction.

Now I realise that I sometimes have that same shiver when I have thoughts such as when I think about my girlfriend which I miss and really care about or when I think about an embarassing moment from my past. I actually sometimes have it when I see a VERY attractive woman on the street.

I was just curious to see what it means when I have this shiver in real life not during an hypnosis session and if it was an abreaction.

[Don]

Sorry, my friend. Having "some kind of shiver" is not experiencing an abreaction.

[skip]

First lets look at what abreaction is and isnt. Then lets talk about you.

People respond to everything, even if the response is nothing, that IS a respone.

It is often called reacting.

And if the reaction is appropriate (as judged by the individual and perhaps others, in intensity, and 'contextual appropriateness') no one gives it a second thought.

However if the reaction is 'out of bounds' in intensity and appropriateness to the context, we tend to judge it as an abreaction.

So if two people are in a room and a mouse runs across the floor, if one sits there and observes while the other jumps up on the desk ... we might conclude that neither overreacted, or we might conclude that one overrected. It is even possible that one was paralyzed and had just as intense a response as the one who jumped up on the table.

However if one merely metioned a mouse in conversation and the other jumped up on the desk ... we would probably tend to label that an abreaction. Maybe or maybe not context appropriate, but definately out of bounds in intensity

Or if one was talking about baseball and the other ran screaming from the room ... I suspect we could safely say, that is a abreaction, assuming the baseball coversation is what was being reacted to.

So an abreaction is something that is pretty much always way over the top in intensity, and often but not always out of context. Notice I said 'pretty much always' because if you used to have a full blown abreaction to something, but now it is just a twinge, I would still agree that it is an abreaction.

So is your shiver an abreaction?

I dont know.

It doesnt seem to me to be either over the top in intensity, nor does it seem to be 'out of context'. I too shiver at the sight of a pretty girl. ;)

The fair question is, "Is that shiver one of anticipation or fear or something else?"

AND

What is the stimulus for the shiver? The same stuff as in the hypnosis session or something else?

But frenchboy all of that is irrelevent.

The pertinant question is, "Is the shiver unwanted or damaging to you in the situation."

If not, enjoy it as do I, and go on.

If so then you can use any number of protocols to relieve yourself of it. Hypnosis, LP, EFT etc.

skip

[frenchboy]

It was just out of curiousity. Now Im confused about what an abreaction is. I thought it was any kind of physical reaction to a suggestion during hypnosis.

[Don]

As Skip wrote: "if the reaction is 'out of bounds' in intensity and appropriateness to the context, we tend to judge it as an abreaction." He added later, it "is pretty much always way over the top in intensity, and often but not always out of context." Finally, in relation to your particular situation, he wrote, "It doesnt seem to me [that your "shiver" was] either over the top in intensity, nor does it seem to be 'out of context'."

What is your concern over abreactions? If you are studying hypnosis, your trainer should teach you how to deal with them.

[skip]

"Now Im confused about what an abreaction is."

Good confusion usually leads to learning something.

"I thought it was any kind of physical reaction to a suggestion during hypnosis."

If in hypnosis your arousal level went up at the suggestion of encountering a pretty girl you would classify that as an abreaction?

Is that what you are inteding to say?

What does limiting it to a hypotic session have to do with it?

skip

[Poodle]

To me it is could be viewed as working with a rape victim and having that victim relive the rape experience ALL OVER AGAIN second by second when once was once too much. There are very few people in our business that believe this to be carthodic. We are not among them here.

How about working with a burn patient and letting him/her experience that situation all over again second by second with the flames searing their skin and hair off.

Those are waaaay over the top in intensity and really serve no useful purpose that I have ever found in my entire career.

I will do absolutely everything possible to avoid an abreaction and should one start to occur I stop it in 8 (eight) whole words.

Have you looked on "bing" to see if there is a definition for an hypnotic abreaction? It has a pretty good dictionary but I don't know if it delves much into our worlds.

Maybe this could be something Merlin would like to add to the FAQ page which would probably be good for you to read anyway.

Be well~Pood

[Merlin]

Maybe this could be something Merlin would like to add to the FAQ page which would probably be good for you to ready anyway.

good idea