Hypnotherapy for trauma recovery in Manchester and Cheshire

Trauma from abuse, accidents, assault, bullying, domestic violence or distressing life events can leave you experiencing anxiety, panic attacks, flashbacks and ongoing emotional triggers long after the event has passed.

As a South Manchester-based trauma specialist, I use hypnotherapy and BrainWorking Recursive Therapy (BWRT) to help rewire the subconscious response to trauma, reduce PTSD symptoms and restore a lasting sense of calm and control. In just a few focused sessions, it is possible to release the exhausting fight or flight response and move forward with confidence.

What is trauma?

The NHS defines trauma as: “an emotional and psychological response to deeply distressing or life-threatening events that overwhelm an individual’s ability to cope. It leaves individuals feeling helpless, unsafe, and shocked, with effects that can linger long after the event. Trauma often results from abuse, accidents, or disasters, causing lasting mental, physical, and emotional distress.”
This isn’t the full story, however. I see many clients who have tried for years to dismiss their trauma, truly believing that the powerful response they feel when something triggers a memory of the event to be over the top, or silly, or just something they should be able to deal with. Trust me when I say, your trauma and the ongoing response to your trauma is rooted in your subconscious, and your subconscious is all-powerful and won’t give it up without outside intervention.

What types of trauma are there?

There are three types of trauma: acute, chronic and complex.
Acute trauma results from a one-off, intense and often dangerous event, such as a car accident, rape or assault. It can also be the result of something that wasn’t actually life-threatening, but your subconscious (or child) mind saw it that way; these are the traumas we often dismiss, even though they have an ongoing impact on our lives for years and often forever.

Seeking recovery from chronic trauma, such as bullying or long-term abuse, is perhaps the most common reason people come to me. I see so many young people who struggle to keep their lives on track because of past abuse or bullying. It doesn’t have to be physical abuse – mental and emotional abuse can leave deep scars in the subconscious too.

Complex trauma results from repeated exposure to traumatic events, such as childhood neglect or domestic violence and I have seen and helped many survivors of this, too.

How does trauma affect us after the event?

Trauma can show itself in our lives after the triggering event in in various ways and can impact both our mental and physical health.

We can experience emotional responses such as feelings of intense fear, anger, shame, helplessness or even guilt. We can have flashbacks, nightmares, intrusive memories or emotional numbness. Physically, we can experience exhausting hyper-vigilance (a state of constant alertness and heightened sensitivity, where the brain is constantly scanning for, and overestimating, potential threats), exhaustion, heart palpitations and even stomach upsets.
Those carrying unresolved trauma also often change their behaviours – avoiding potential triggers and withdrawing from work, family and a normal life.

Trauma can impact the whole of the rest of your life

A traumatic event can fundamentally impact upon your sense of safety and self. Once a trauma is embedded in your subconscious, it’s not going to budge without help. The reason for this is that your subconscious doesn’t recognise the passing of time. As far as it’s concerned, the moment it spots a trigger – whether that be a loud bang, sudden braking, a certain smell, the expression on someone’s face, anything connected to the traumatic event or events you experienced – it’s right back there in the moment, and will kick in immediately with a vastly disproportionate response, triggering a powerful release of the stress hormones primarily cortisol, adrenaline and noradrenaline into your bloodstream. These trigger the fight or flight response, increasing heart rate, spiking blood pressure and boosting energy levels to handle the immediate threat. The thing is, there is no immediate threat, you are simply going to experience all the feelings of fear and panic without actual cause – and this is, long-term, damaging to your mental and physical health.

How do I help overcome your ongoing response to past trauma?

The great news is that, whatever trauma you are carrying, we can always do something about it.

It takes just a few sessions to ‘re-wire’ your brain’s response to the triggers it has previously seen as something to fear and I use both hypnotherapy and BWRT to do this.

I have had clients ask “how will I ever not know I was raped?”

BWRT isn’t about changing the facts of the event, but about re-coding the way your subconscious responds to it. Whatever it was, it’s not happening now. It happened, yes, and we don’t take that away from you, but it’s not happening now, so your subconscious does not need to trigger that fight or flight response every time it spots a trigger.

Think of it this way: your subconscious has no logic, so we can change the way it responds to what it previously saw as something to fear, to run away from. Your subconscious can be triggered by very minor things, but it leaps immediately to “it’s happening again!” and creates a disproportionate response to what actually is happening – and you have zero control over that. Using BWRT we change its response to those triggers.

We then go on to use hypnotherapy to allow you to reframe how you approach situations that might trigger that traumatic response, through techniques such as visualisation.

Your trauma is real. It will never not have happened, but with my help it doesn’t have to affect you and the way you live your life.

Don’t stay stuck in your trauma. Take action today and prepare for a whole new way of living.

I offer a free 20-minute telephone consultation where I can learn about you and your specific, unique experience and let you know how I can help.

Contact me today on 0161 374 0227 or fill in the form below. It’s time to take back control.

Finding help couldn’t be easier, just follow the directions on the map, our full address is:

197 Dane Road Sale M33 2NA

My Hours of Operation are:

• Monday to Friday 9am-7pm
• Saturday 9am-4pm