Hypnotherapy

[solida]

With my therapist we are also doing a lot of hypnotherapy,because I respond very good and very quickly to inner pictures ,imagery ( the language of the unconscious) and talking with may inner guides.....

 

Yesterday I had such a great success I would like to tell you:

 

For days I had been full of rage,grief and just felt stuck with all those horrible emotions.

During my session I asked my therapist what we could do to transform this energy?

 

I closed my eyes and he asked me where in my body I feel this emotions.It was in my belly.

Is there coming a picture ,he asked.

Immediately I could see an volcano with its lava eruption and it felt scary and this thick lava gave me even more the feeling of beeing stuck.And I could feel the rage.

 

Ok.First we tried to let drain the lava out of my body,but it didn t work.Then he asked me if I could start to replace this picture with something more flowing.

 

And the picture started to change like in the film the time machine. Everywhere flowers grew,waterfalls and rivers showed up, beaches,virgin forest,animals..a hole island...All this replaced slowly the volcano.And with it the anger and grief.And instead I felt more and more free,flowing and more open.My arms spread an I could catch my breath more easily.

 

It was fantastic. My energy is flowing again and I still feel great today.

 

Solida

[Altostrata]

That is a wonderful story, and image, solida. Thank you.

 

Someone just suggested hypnotherapy for me, for sleep. I'm going to look into it. I kind of feel it won't work for me, because I'm not very suggestible, but it seems like something that could be very helpful.

[Jose]

Hello everyone,

I am getting gradually interested in hypnotherapy to treat depression and obsessive thinking and help me get through this withdrawal hell.

Does anyone have experience with hypnotherapy? I would love to read about experiences in this field.

Thanks so much.

[UnfoldingSky]

I actually applied to be a hypnotherapist.  But the training was really expensive and they sort of misled me about the job (didn't tell me that it would be so expensive.)

I think it really is valid though for some issues; if you think about it, if you sit in front of a TV for a while you do tend to enter a mild trance state and most definitely will be influenced by what you see, even if you don't recall it consciously.  So I think it might work.  I don't know of anyone off-hand that I have read about using it for withdrawal though so if you do try it let us know how it goes.  

 

Oh and, I have a vague memory I was told that there are a small percentage of people who can't be hypnotized.  So just be aware, in case if it doesn't seem to be helping they try to get you to come back anyway.  I also remember them saying the majority of people have only a mild trance--it's only maybe ten percent? or so who get the really deep trances, the kinds that people most often associate with hypnotherapy.  So it's a really individualized response.

[btdt]

I am very protective of my brain and not handing it over to anyone or anything ever again.  This would not be an option for me. 

[bubble]

I agree with btdt. The thought of exposing my CNS to any kind of stimuli now when it is so fragile simply scares me.

 

I actually had a very bad reaction to kriya while in withdrawal. It destabilized me a lot, made me feel as if I was losing my mind. It was really scary. I used to fine yoga and breathing exercises helpful but since in withdrawal anything that's not really gentle is very counterproductive.

 

I don't have any data to support this. It's just a very strong gut feeling to avoid anything harsh.

[btdt]

I agree with btdt. The thought of exposing my CNS to any kind of stimuli now when it is so fragile simply scares me.

 

I actually had a very bad reaction to kriya while in withdrawal. It destabilized me a lot, made me feel as if I was losing my mind. It was really scary. I used to fine yoga and breathing exercises helpful but since in withdrawal anything that's not really gentle is very counterproductive.

 

I don't have any data to support this. It's just a very strong gut feeling to avoid anything harsh.

There is a very gentle yoga dvd called yoga in bed... I find it ok most days you may like it. 

[Jose]

Thanks everyone for the feedback.

Maybe I'm wrong, but I don't perceive hypnosis as something harsh, perhaps an alternative way to reach and veer the subconscious toward more solid ground... I have tried a couple of methods of self-hypnosis from self-help books, the first one didn't do anything noticeable really apart from the relaxation bit (Instant Self-Hypnosis by Forbes Robbins Blair), but second one I just recently tried (How to master self-hypnosis in a weekend, by Rick Smith) has given some noticeable effects, I cannot tell whether durable or not right now but definitely helping on the day. I know the title sounds a bit of a joke, but the method is convincing to me. You basically relax and get yourself into a trance, sometimes very light (just feels like your eyes are closed and your thinking deep) and sometimes more profound (just like before falling asleep). In the second case, you're still awake but feel like dreaming, so you still think and are in control but you can speak to your inner self. The times I have been relaxed enough I felt I could somehow steer my sensations away from frustration and despair (these are feelings I suffer from a lot). Like a dream you can actually control. When I came out of the trance I felt so good about myself.

I have been doing this for a week now, and when I do it the calmness only lasts for one, two or three hours but maybe with practice it will heal further and build up something resilient in me. This is why I am looking for people who may have tried this.

I am actually considering taking it one step beyond from self hypnosis and go to a hypnotherapist for more profound work.

I must say my experience with cognitive behavioral therapy has not been good, I didn't get much out of it actually even though I tried for months, a long time ago.

I will keep you posted on how it goes with the hypnosis, I do hope I have something positive to report!

My best wishes to you all.

Jose

[btdt]

Here is my take on it.  I have done something similar tho I was on antidepressants when I tried it.  As a healing journey for other issues but it was called something else.  Directing the mind to a different state I think is what happens when I use guided meditation.  I can make use of guided meditation now but I could not tolerate it.  In early withdrawal  I could not rest enough to even focus on what the guide was saying words would not go into my head later one word from the guide would get stuck in my head and repeat over and over taking away my attention..songs with words did the same thing the torment could last a wk maybe longer... constant replaying the word or verse... that is why I went for the ocean for relaxation.. any white noise may do the same I chose the ocean. Later I moved to instrumental music eventually guided meditation. 

 

" You basically relax and get yourself into a trance, sometimes very light (just feels like your eyes are closed and your thinking deep) and sometimes more profound (just like before falling asleep)."

 

Tho I found the type of "hypnosis" you speak of useful in the past I am uneased by the  the "sleep state misperception"   I experienced in the past.  If I can be awake yet my brain study says I am asleep I am not sure I  want to mess with the different states of sleep... for all I know this is still happening to me now and could be happening with relaxation. You know this is a process for me now as I had forgotten the other bit of this test in that they told me I was missing one type of brain wave... I can't recall what the name was. hmm long ago anyway about a year after prozac I had that test done. 

 

The more I think of it in the extreme stages of Effexor + Celexa use I was off in another world... not being myself at all.  

At times I struggled to come back to myself...  I thought of it much later when healing as an altered state of consciousness and wrote a bit to explain to others what was going on inside of me. 

 

I think I am off on another tangent away from hypnosis at this point over in the extreme personality section of this type of drugs use... so I will drop it for now. 

 

I think my fear of hypnosis maybe be unfounded since you explained what it is you mean.  Yet due to my experience in the past with altered consciousness and the sleep issues... I do not want to trigger any problems for myself. 

 

The light types you speak of above I think is the type of thing I do with relaxation.. I too feel much better after I spend some time with it.  I do think deep relaxation is a healing state but I prefer to just "BE" when I get there and let my body do the healing.  

I think this is because of the altered consciousness state I lived in for a very long long time... I do not trust my ability to direct the process for fear of falling into a trench or previous altered sense and not being able to leave it when I want. That is how I felt when drugged for a long time i could not think and if I got a glimmer of a thought it would scoot away and I could not get it back I could not problem solve not at all. It was in this state I did the most damage to my life and made choices that affect me to this day so once burned twice shy. Since I have had the experience of having alter consciousness and feeling something was off but not being able to return to complete awareness... I fear being there again.  I get a sense already of falling into that state from time to time thruout withdrawal and  I don't like it. I can't wait for the day it stops completely

 

I think I am way beyond what you mean so will stop here with my stuff.  I think the process as you are using it so far is a good thing it is helping you your in control of it.  I think that control is a huge issue for me post drug use as I felt I did not have for many years while drugged... I can't possibly put myself in the hands of another my trust is shattered. 

 

This speaks more to my experience and fear than it does to your process I want you to know I realize it.  

Maybe I have been some places with these drugs that others here at this point have not been I am not sure if this is a fact or if they are scared to discuss it or not realized it yet... I do know others are having extreme presonality changes which I personally think are due to altered states of being and consciousness which are drug induced. Hence if you have never had this maybe it does not apply there is a lot to learn and we can't tell from here always what bits are important and apply and which don't. 

 

 

If you do go ahead and dig a bit deeper please report back and let us know how it goes. 

peace to you...

[Jose]

I think this is because of the altered consciousness state I lived in for a very long long time... I do not trust my ability to direct the process for fear of falling into a trench or previous altered sense and not being able to leave it when I want.

 

If you do go ahead and dig a bit deeper please report back and let us know how it goes. 

peace to you...

Btdt, thank you for sharing your experience. I have read your post several times, it's fascinating to me how you describe places and landscapes in the mind that I have also visualised or felt, but in a different way and most likely to a different depth. It's like listening to versions of the same musical phrase. I am sorry for the pain and fear that you describe, I understand what you are saying about falling into a trench of previous altered sense, it's a powerful way to describe it, it reminds me of the moments of derealization that precede a panic attack. This thing about control that you mention, it's key. I think that is a fundamental result I have gained from conscious breathing. Even if I'm not doing an exercise, it accompanies me, the ability to regulate through the breathing. It is since I discovered this that I have not had a panic attack again, only approaches, being on the verge of panic, but hung in there.

I don't know right now, to be honest sometimes I also fear I can flip and fall into irreversible madness but somehow I manage to trust and leave that moment of confusion aside, and I'm pretty sure it's the breathing and consciousness that has got me in shape in that aspect.

It doesn't mean I'm well, but I may have built myself a bumper on one of the many sides of my self.

Muscle for the moments of fear.

What are you working on to regain trust in your ability to control yourself? Is the guided meditation helping there?

I will come back with some thoughts on the hypnotherapy.

My best wishes to you.

[btdt]

 

I think this is because of the altered consciousness state I lived in for a very long long time... I do not trust my ability to direct the process for fear of falling into a trench or previous altered sense and not being able to leave it when I want.

 

If you do go ahead and dig a bit deeper please report back and let us know how it goes. 

peace to you...

Btdt, thank you for sharing your experience. I have read your post several times, it's fascinating to me how you describe places and landscapes in the mind that I have also visualised or felt, but in a different way and most likely to a different depth. It's like listening to versions of the same musical phrase. I am sorry for the pain and fear that you describe, I understand what you are saying about falling into a trench of previous altered sense, it's a powerful way to describe it, it reminds me of the moments of derealization that precede a panic attack. This thing about control that you mention, it's key. I think that is a fundamental result I have gained from conscious breathing. Even if I'm not doing an exercise, it accompanies me, the ability to regulate through the breathing. It is since I discovered this that I have not had a panic attack again, only approaches, being on the verge of panic, but hung in there.

I don't know right now, to be honest sometimes I also fear I can flip and fall into irreversible madness but somehow I manage to trust and leave that moment of confusion aside, and I'm pretty sure it's the breathing and consciousness that has got me in shape in that aspect.

It doesn't mean I'm well, but I may have built myself a bumper on one of the many sides of my self.

Muscle for the moments of fear.

What are you working on to regain trust in your ability to control yourself? Is the guided meditation helping there?

I will come back with some thoughts on the hypnotherapy.

My best wishes to you.

 

" This thing about control that you mention"

I lost it when I was on effexor I could not think like myself consciousness was altered I could not get back to me... in the old site about marriages destroyed by ssri on topix there were plenty of people there who spouses had this experience too.. they completely changed and left their marriages while drugged... it has happened to other people on pp too like slappy in the face to name just one.  No amount of breathing was going to bring any of us back from that sever state.  There were in the end a few who got off the drugs and fought like hell to save their families.  There were more non drug taking spouses than drug taking but there were maybe 20% drug takers who came out of it there.  The site is gone now completely deleted sorry to say... thousands of posts... gone.

This was long term losing control of self.  There are varying states DR DP where this is short lived... but the long term kind is the most damaging. Though I have had them all and would not sign up for any the long term severe one is the worst as people destroy their lives and never figure it out often for 10 -20 years... due to the internet some spouses were finding out and trying to help the drug taker to break free they don't usually believe it but sometimes they do.  

 

I know what you mean about control your body thru breath I use to be able to do this very effectively before drugs since Ads I have not had the level of control again.  I have a tiny bit of success with it but not much nothing like before I took these stupid antidepressants... it has just never been the same.  I had an unusual teacher in grade 4 who taught us all to calm our thoughts thru breath... she did it as a class exercise I no longer recall why she did it but I used it all the time after I learned how. I don't think I breath the same as I use to ... could be a lot of reasons for that I won't speculate here. 

 

For me the deep relaxation has been most helpful and white noise like the ocean.. I have this thing where I need heat on my spine not just for pain control but it sooths me... I read that heat on the spine will increase norepinephrine production ... the link I had to this science article has been deleted with the topix site. but I was using it before I found the science as I will use what works just found the science interesting.  The guided meditation is kind of like a quick fix I don't like them all and some I simply can't listen to.  Be picky if your going to try it find one that suites you. 

 

My greatest work is stay on top of stress right now I have been behind the eight ball with ongoing challenges for a quite some time now... I am thinking if I can get to the bottom of some health problems ... working on it and no more relatives die in the near future maybe I can get on top of things soon.  

 

For now and even before all this turmoil I have been working on getting my body healthy thru diet exercise ect...  and staying present aware and in the moment... to live in the moment to pray often to seek and find joy... that is the plan life tends to get in the way a LOT lately but is what I am striving for.  

 

We all have bad times in our lives and they happen regardless of our withdrawal state... so I am rolling with the punches... still seeking peace and joy in the small moments in between...

 

Here is one tiny bit of info I like to think of when things are nuts.. or when they are  not... it is a concept.

 

The wold is made up mostly of nothing.. space... in this space we can interject something.. we like light...peace .. calm ... joy I sometimes do a visualization where I fill myself with the most powerful feeling of love I can recall or the greatest joy I have ever felt... it is not always easy I try to put this into the empty space I imagine inside myself... sometimes I do it with color... or sunshine when I have time to play ... and a mind to do it.  Tho I do take small moments when I am sick or in a **** storm and fill those spaces with light... just to revive myself... and I pray a lot. 

peace to you..

 

ps

I got the awareness and now from a book called the power of now.. I recommend it. 

[Jose]

 

Here is one tiny bit of info I like to think of when things are nuts.. or when they are  not... it is a concept.

 

The wold is made up mostly of nothing.. space... in this space we can interject something.. we like light...peace .. calm ... joy I sometimes do a visualization where I fill myself with the most powerful feeling of love I can recall or the greatest joy I have ever felt... it is not always easy I try to put this into the empty space I imagine inside myself... sometimes I do it with color... or sunshine when I have time to play ... and a mind to do it.  Tho I do take small moments when I am sick or in a **** storm and fill those spaces with light... just to revive myself... and I pray a lot. 

peace to you..

 

ps

I got the awareness and now from a book called the power of now.. I recommend it. 

 

 

Thanks btdt.

I do worry a lot about the irreversible, but I guess I must come to terms with the fact that, no matter what path you go down, it's never like before, it always changes.

And like in the power of now, the only real moment is the present.

I'm sending my thoughts to help us all stay in the present, with serenity, not the past or the future, just the clearest now.

[btdt]

 

 

Here is one tiny bit of info I like to think of when things are nuts.. or when they are  not... it is a concept.

 

The wold is made up mostly of nothing.. space... in this space we can interject something.. we like light...peace .. calm ... joy I sometimes do a visualization where I fill myself with the most powerful feeling of love I can recall or the greatest joy I have ever felt... it is not always easy I try to put this into the empty space I imagine inside myself... sometimes I do it with color... or sunshine when I have time to play ... and a mind to do it.  Tho I do take small moments when I am sick or in a **** storm and fill those spaces with light... just to revive myself... and I pray a lot. 

peace to you..

 

ps

I got the awareness and now from a book called the power of now.. I recommend it. 

 

 

Thanks btdt.

I do worry a lot about the irreversible, but I guess I must come to terms with the fact that, no matter what path you go down, it's never like before, it always changes.

And like in the power of now, the only real moment is the present.

I'm sending my thoughts to help us all stay in the present, with serenity, not the past or the future, just the clearest now.

 

I worry too and have had some things that kick up here and there.  I try to keep my life steady and my health steady but it seems not matter what I do some crap slips in now and then.  Not enough to say it is anything yet... I have already worried myself sicker with it and I now make the choice to have my life as calm and as peaceful as like will allow to increase my healing cause I think deep peace is a healing state... but more than that I think stress and strain really hurt me.  I try to keep as stable as I can and not do things that upset the apple cart.  

Tho health issues come to the front I try to be aware enough to handle my own care and at the same time avoid any real procedures that could push me over the edge.  I don't get too excited about anything now as I long ago thought was dying when I was in hard withdrawal to a certain extend I have made peace with my death... now that I say it I am not lol see how it goes if you feel really sick for a really long time... I think it makes sense to make some peace with leaving. I really thought I was dying and they just had not found what it was yet.  It may seem silly to others but this is all true. 

I did seen a great number of doctors and all for nothing... really.  

So now even when the doctors get all excited about some things that come up with my health I find it hard to get too excited about it.  I am use to having strange sometimes extreme symptoms that they can't find a cause for.  I find lately doctors that know me are more apt to get all excited about some symptom that seems extreme and I am not.  

 

I tend to think there is nothing I can do about it anyway so why not attend to the things that I can do something about... like how I am thinking today or my awareness ect.  

 

I stay aware enough to report extreme issues and sometimes nagging ones... but I refuse to go back to the fear based thinking that I am going to die... of course I am going to die everybody dies,  I no longer think withdrawal is going to kill me now that I know what it is.  Again previous drug use may play a part in my death that would not surprise me any... but there is not one thing I can do about past drug use so why bother with it to the point of making myself have anxiety.  

 

I think a long hard bout of withdrawal really seasons us and we feel think and see all types of things and symptoms... it is hard to throw a person who has lived thru a lot of drug use and withdrawal as we tend to not get too excited about symptoms after years of having them and making the rounds over and over to specialists who do nothing.... except offer a new drug.  I have long since stopped trying new psych drugs but occassionally I will get sucked into trying something like  bp drug ... recent experience has shown me that is a bad idea too.  I will be even more careful in the future. 

Power of Now cause Now is the only time that has any power or life in it... love it. 

Peace to you

Edited February 9, 2016 by KarenB
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