After a traumatic incident of some magnitude some people develop Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). These patients find that they experience flash backs of the original trauma, sleep is disturbed, and some subsequently avoid the site of the original incident and may become phobic to that particular location or situation.
PTSD can be successfully treated with the aid of hypnosis. These patients have been through harrowing experiences and it must be remembered that the effects of this will have made a deep impact on their emotions. For this reason, the patient and therapist need to work together over a number of sessions for a successful outcome to be achieved.
The aim of hypnosis in the treatment of PTSD is to enable the patient to overcome the effects of the original trauma in a safe and supportive environment. It is important that the therapist creates an atmosphere in which it becomes possible for the patient to revisit the distressing experience without feeling the anguish associated with it. In this way it becomes possible for the patient to make a complete recovery from the original incident.