emoving Negative Emotions From Past Events

[Imaginos]

I am looking to see a hypnotist to help me cope with some events in my past which have affected me very negatively emotionally to the point that I'm suffering from depression.
What process could a hypnotist use to remove the negative feeling from past events. I'm interested to hear from anyone else who has had this done, and what it would involve.
Would it involve having to go over the negative experiences again under hypnosis?

[Don]

Hi, Imaginos.

I'm going to "read your mind" and claim that know you think your question is very easy and straightforward. In fact, however, it is filled with presuppositions, misconceptions, and misunderstandings. That's not meant as an insult, so please don't take it that way! If anything, it's an insult to both our educational systems and the mass media for giving you such ideas. So let me go through them, one at a time.

1) You say you're suffering from depression. Really? This implies to me that you're a psychological professional, or at least a medical professional who is licensed to make diagnoses of this kind. My guess, however, is that you are not. Instead, you have read some things or heard some things and think that your symptoms can be defined as "depression."

If you have been to a licensed medical practitioner have have been diagnosed as having depression, you should get a referral from your doctor to go to a hypnotist.

However, let's assume that you're just diagnosing yourself. I just went onto one website which claimed there are 10 major signs of depression, and within those signs are multiple indicators. That means there are literally dozens of things which a licensed professional might call "depression."

Isn't that bizarre? I mean, one sign of depression, according to this site, is having a headache. But people have headaches for dozens of reasons, some of them physiological rather than psychological.

So if someone were to come to me saying, "I have depression" or "I'm very negative emotionally," the first thing I'd do is say, "You know, those descriptions are very general, and I'd rather work with you rather than someone else. So let's talk about your specific symptoms and how they effect you, as well as what you'd rather do and how you'd rather feel."

2) You ask what process a hypnotist would use to remove a negative feeling from past events. Well, my friend, that assumes there is a single process. This is a common belief among people indoctrinated by the Western medical paradigm that for each problem there is only one solution. Everyone with a particular problem gets the same treatment. It makes me think that people are supposed to be robots, and if a framistat goes bad we just get a new framistat and replace the old one.

Hypnotherapy has a completely different paradigm. It views each person as a unique individual and proposes that each person deserves unique and special treatment. I can think of half-a-dozen treatment modalities for removing negative feelings from past events. Which one is right for you depends upon the knowledge and skill of the hypnotherapist as well as the background, needs, and uniques qualities of each client. So if I gave you one such process, it might have nothing to do with how any particular hypnotherapist will work with you. In fact, it might have negative effects since you'd be expecting one thing and get another, and if your expectations aren't met, your mind could actually work to defeat the desired changes! So, I don't think it would be a good idea to describe any particular "process" other than to say it will involve talking with the hypnotist and perhaps a formal induction.

3) Will it involve having to go over the negative experiences again? Well, what you are doing here is combining two different things, the memory of the experience and the negative feelings that are attached to the memory of the past events. Just above you talked about removing the negative feeling, while now you seem worried about going over the experience. But if you get rid of the negative feeling, remembering the experience while have no more effect on you than remembering what you had for breakfast!

As a general rule, hypnotherapy doesn't involve the use of getting a person to experience both the old memories AND the emotions currently attached to those memories. With that in mind, I can say that SOME methods don't work with having you remember the event while others have you remember the event while having no negative feeling as a result. Which one(s) is (are) right for you? I don't know. Your hypnotist will.

However, I can say this: you'll know your behavior is different when you can think about the events at and time of the day or night and have no powerful negative responses to them.

Won't it be great to do that? And just think: when you go to a hypnotherapist you'll be able to do exactly that!

Cool, huh?

[Henrik]

Hi, Imaginos.

If you suffer from the medical diagnosis of depression or not is not all that important. Lets say you "qualify" for depression, what help is there in being labeled as such? What is important IMO is that you have some negative feelings that you want to remove.

What method a hypnotherapist will use to help you is not all that important either. A skilled hypnotherapist will use any method(s) that will help YOU reach your goal(s). I think your job at this moment is to find someone skilled that can help you.

There are skilled people on this forum that can help. Since I think you live in England I would have contacted (PM) either Merlin or Jack and asked if one of them is available. If either one say "yes" I wouldn't pass the opportunity to work with them even if I was the happiest person alive ;). Jack hasn't visited in some time, but Merlin is here quite often. For phone work Docresult and Skip are good. Since skill is so important I would allow for some traveling. Go for the best.

If you wish to educate yourself on some of the methods used you could read about timeline work, PEAT, Deep PEAT, DP3, Aspectics, EFT and TAT and perhaps 3D Mind. Merlin and Skip both have extensive book lists on hypnosis and NLP. If you want more than just book knowledge you will have to EXPERIENCE these (or other) techniques. The absolute best way to do so is to work with someone really skilled, as soon as possible. Now. You will find out why. I have given you four names.

Henrik

[Merlin]

My preferred tool would be timeline therapy

[Poodle]

Merlin's choice!

Pood :)

[Imaginos]

Thanks for the replies guys.
Would you be willing to help me Merlin?
I live in the North West of England on the Wirral, but am prepared to travel for treatment.
My problems are entirely about things in the past which I can't seem to really get over and are thus making me depressed and affecting what I can do in my future and am able enjoy a lot.

[Poodle]

It's usually best to ask these type of questions through PM's. If Merlin declines, we have another expert in Time Line Therapy in England. Where in England, I don't know.

Just know that soon all will be "right as rain" as the saying goes.

Pood :)

[Imaginos]

I have been diagnosed with clinical depression by my GP, and have had it for about 2 months since trying to come off antidepressants.
I have at times felt lot better for a number of days but then the depression keeps coming back again just as strong.
Hopefully if I could just deal with the things making me depressed then I would be OK.

[Don]

1) WE can't diagnose you over the internet.
2) WE can't suggest an appropriate treatment over the internet.
3) As I have written elsewhere, there are 10 different symptoms, each with many, many variations, that can be diagnosed by a licensed medical professional as "depression." Hypnotists can help you overcome any of those symptoms.
4) Hypnotherapy does not replace other forms of medical treatment. Since you've had a medical diagnosis, you should talk to your GP about seeing a hypnotherapist. Perhaps he or she can even refer you to a practitioner.
5) If you are still on antidepressants, and if you still want to get off of them, it is possible that hypnotherapy, in cooperation with your doctor, can help you achieve this goal.
6) "Things" aren't making you depressed. You--or rather, your response to things--is what is causing the feelings and behaviors, still unnamed, that you are calling "depressed." Hypnotherapy can help a person break these links so that a desired response to things (one that is not filled with one or more symptoms of what some call "depression") will replace an unwanted response (symptom(s) of "depression").

[Simple Guy]

Any diagnoses of any medical conditions can only be made by
someone licensed to do so. This is inclusive of depression. This
response is for clarity; Don wasn't suggesting otherwise.

[Terry]

Having read your post carefully, I am curious about your line of questioning.
You ask "HOW", and that sends up a red flag for me. I need to ask you, would you take your car to a service station, and ask the mechanic even before he had a chance to look at the car, "how do you intend to fix the problem?". Of course you wouldn't, nobody in their right mind would, yet you think it just fine to ask us who know nothing about you, "how would you go about fixing this problem of unknown origin, and of unknown circumstance. I need to know before I look for help?"

In fairness, you do say you are willing to travel, and that goes in your favour, but if you feel that you cannot accept the superior knowledge of the therapist, and can only accept help from someone who can offer you a guarantee that you will not need to discuss your problems in order to be rid of them, forget it, you are not ready.....

[Don]

SG, thank you for the clarification. You are, of course, 100% correct.

This brings up a question of terminology. Unfortunately, there is not a good, simple, one or two-word expression for what a hypnotherapist would do as a result of talking to and observing a client and analyzing the situation to prepare for hypnotherapy.

Here in California, a licensed acupuncturist may diagnose within his or her range of practice. That is, the acupuncturist may diagnose from the point of view of Traditional Oriental Medicine, and may even give prescriptions of various herbal remedies as well as acupuncture techniques. Unless an MD, an acupuncturist may not diagnose diseases from a Western allopathic model or prescribe pharmaceutical drugs.

As hypnotherapists, we cannot legally diagnose anyone, ever, as having a disease or problem that is in the area of practice of a licensed MD or psychological professional. In some ways this is bizarre. If some idiot off the street says, "You got the depression. Go to a doctor and get some drugs" that is perfectly legal. Were I to say the same thing I could be prosecuted for practicing medicine without a license and offering false advise under the guise of authority.

So the question is, can we we, like acupuncturists, say that we diagnose from a hypnotherapeutic viewpoint? If, after an analysis, I were to say, "Well, it appears that your unconscious mind is directing you to follow what it is unknowingly an unecological behavior," that is a de facto diagnosis from a hypnotherapeutic viewpoint. If I were to continue, "There are many ways to help you change your behavior, but as a result of my training, experience, and from analyzing both your statements and observing your body language, I believe the best methodology of dealing with this will be through parts therapy," I am giving a de facto prescription for treatment.

Should we call this a "diagnosis?" A "hypnotherapy diagnosis?" Something else that a person off the street will understand immediately without actually using the word, "diagnosis?"

Should we call the proposed treatment a "prescription?" A hypnotherapeutic prescription? Something else that a person off the street will understand immediately without actually using the word "prescription?"

What do people here propose?

[Connie]

I like to follow the language guidelines suggested by the NGH for practicing hypnotherapy, absent of a medical referral--and I avoid medical terminology altogether. I'm not "treating insomnia," I offer sleep improvement. I'm not "treating obesity," I'm helping with self-control and weight management and facilitating general wellness.

[Henrik]

I like to follow the language guidelines suggested by the NGH for practicing hypnotherapy, absent of a medical referral--and I avoid medical terminology altogether. I'm not "treating insomnia," I offer sleep improvement. I'm not "treating obesity," I'm helping with self-control and weight management and facilitating general wellness.

I agree with you Connie. I suspect many people who come to see hypnotherapists have already been diagnosed as X or Y or both and another diagnosis might add fuel to their problem.

Merlin said "don't treat labels just help people". When I'm ready to help people in a therapeutic sense I think I'll stick to that.

Henrik

[Terry]

We do not prescribe, or treat, we just guide the client to a solution...
I supply extaordinary knowledge of the working of the mind, while the client supplies trust. Nothing else is required until it comes to describing what we do to others, and I don;t bother to do that. When a client comes to me for help, it is assumed that they expect me to be able to help and in the same manner that they trust their doctor and ask no questions, so too I expect them to trust me to supply their needs without having to go into detail. It is only here were nobody is paying that such is demanded of us, demanded by those too lazy to do a proper search before coming here.
I am always ready to defend what I do against all comers because I know more than they. So should everyone dealing with the public, and if all you want is a term for what we do, how about "Psycomantist"? :cool: ie, we supply the conditions to allow the client to make the best use of their own mind, nothing more.

There you go, a new word for you to put on your shingle. "Psycomantist".
If asked what that means, it means you do what a Psychologist does but do it better and faster. It also does away with that questionable word "therapy or therapist".... Perhaps I should register the name?????:D

[Don]

I'm fully aware of the NGH suggested terminology. I'm also aware that they suggest we don't call what we do hypnotherapy or call ourselves hypnotherapists. I don't follow those policies, I'm afraid, either.

So when you're sitting with your client, and your client has spilled their guts describing numerous symptoms and unwanted behaviors, and then asks, "what have I got? What's my diagnosis and what treatment should I follow?" are you going to go into a long discussion of how you don't diagnose?

I would respectfully suggest that part of the therapy is to give your clients something they can identify with. And like it or not, that is a diagnosis (at least in the broad sense of the term).

[Terry]

I don;t follow NGH advice either, in fact I didn't know what I suggested was anywere close to what they suggest since I am not and never have been a member. However, as far as the second paragraph is concerned, I have never had a client ask in those words, perhaps because by the time I have finished, they follow my lead and use my terminology.. If not, and if that has been your experience, I have no idea why the difference in our clients attitudes...
I made it clear to my clients that I work with their minds using my knowledge, therefor, I don;t diagnose, I don;t offer a prognosis, and I don't treat, and I suppose if one of them did indeed ask what was wrong with them I would give an honest answer and say "stinking thinking". I use simple language with a client to ensure complete understanding of what I tell them, and truth is always sufficient....I imagine that a niophyte might indeeed have problems such as you mention, but in that case they shouldn't be working with the public...
If indeed "stinking thinking" can be termed a diagnosis "in the broad sense of that term" I suggest anyone wishing to take that to court would have a hard time convincing anyone else of that, and their presence in court could easily be construed as proof that the diagnosis was correct....:D

[Simple Guy]

Hi Don,

I, personally, avoid "diagnosis" and any other similar jargon. For
one thing, it carries a "taint" of past long-term negative associations
with failure, frustration, mistreatment, insufficient attention,
disempowerment, for some people. I'm pleased to let folks know,
that though they are working with a professional -- this time, it's
going to be different. They sense it. They find it. And usually,
they are glad it is. So, respectfully, though folks need something
that they can identify with, what they do identify with, may, for
some, thankfully be a result of a pattern-interrupt from what wasn't working
for them and different language congruent with that is best, i.m.o.

[Jack]

Hello,

Go to www.hypnotherapists.org.uk (http://www.hypnotherapists.org.uk) and you will find many hypnotherapists in the NW. Pick one who has experience of of clinical depression. Good luck.

Jack

[Terry]

Hi Jack, good to hear from you again.

[Jack]

Hi Jack, good to hear from you again.

Thanks Terry, I'm still watching, but my Dad used to say 'if you have nothing useful to say, say nothing' so I am following that advice.:)

Last week I did a seminar and about halfway through realised that most of what I was saying had no meaning to about half the audience. Normally, I would have changed what I was doing to accomodate, but on this occasion I decided that the half who could understand were not worth risking for the half who could not. I am not clever enough to tag all of the audience, and realised that I am no longer concerned whether I do or not.

It's either a prequel to senility, the onset of wisdom or a lack of interest...I'm undecided which, but it feels pretty good.;)

Jack

[Terry]

Well, not knowing the circumstances, it's hard to say, but perhaps you are no longer taking yourself seriously.:)
On the other hand, why were the half who were not being served there in the first place? I often feel like that here, when we get questions that show the poster knows "nothing", they haven't even gone to the trouble of reading a book or two, yet presume to take up our time with inane questions, while others are phoning us asking for help and willing to pay the price of that help, not only in money, but in time and travel etc, which shows they truly want what we offer.
Anyway, good to know you are still in the land of the living, and in touch with friends....:cool:

[Simple Guy]

"It's either a prequel to senility, the onset of wisdom or a lack of interest...I'm undecided which, but it feels pretty good.;)" -- Jack

Nah, I've decided it's likely an indicator of self-actualization,
something worthy of feeling "pretty good" (or better) about.
This is said based on my knowledge of him from here and the
high regard I have for him.

[Connie]

"Anyway, good to know you are still in the land of the living....:cool:"

Yes!