Understanding Brain Waves Can Help in Healing

April 7, 2022

As a Board Certified Hypnotherapist, I regularly explain to people what hypnosis actually is. For so long now, people have misunderstood what hypnosis is and how it actually works.

What many people do not understand is that hypnosis is a natural brain wave state. It is not something “woo woo” that a certified hypnotist will do to someone; it is a normal brain wave capacity that all humans have—unless they have some sort of dementia or traumatic brain injury that has left a portion of their brain in a state of dysfunction.

But let’s start with the basics.

When I work with clients in the state of hypnosis, I am asking them to allow themselves to drop their busy mind and tense body from Beta brain waves down into Alpha or even deeper into Theta. When this transpires, the person’s body will become very relaxed, which then gives them access to their subconscious mind where emotions, behaviors, experiences, habits, and belief systems reside.

During regular talk therapy, we tend to use our conscious state of mind, which runs in the Beta range and is why it can be hard to achieve quick results. Our conscious mind is not responsible for change; it is responsible for problem-solving and is task-oriented. So, although the conscious mind might be good at resolving a math problem or an analytical issue, it does not tap into the subconscious mind.

By allowing your body and mind to go into an altered brain wave state (Alpha or Theta), real change can take place. Because once we gain access to the subconscious we can then root out our emotions and beliefs. We can then heal from past trauma and from emotional issues that are holding us hostage to our emotions and reactions.

Research shows that trauma can actually get “stuck” in the body—in our cells and in our fascia (connective tissues), which help hold our muscles and internal organs in place. Traumatic events are stored in the amygdala of our brains to ensure that we don’t find ourselves in the same dangerous situation again. 

“However, the amygdala doesn’t save the event as if it was a story,” explains Rhonda Kelloway, LCSW, SEP.  “The amygdala stores the emotional significance of the traumatic event as experienced by our five senses. So the memory is fragments of visual images, smells, sounds, tastes, or touches. Since the traumatic event is stored as sensory fragments, it can be hard to verbalize and attach language to it. Instead, your physical body is what is holding the trauma.”

Through hypnosis, we can go deep into the subconscious mind and also into the body to remove the stuck emotions and energy that get trapped during a traumatic incident. And it doesn’t stop there! Even normal emotions, good or difficult, and be addressed with the process of hypnosis, enabling you to heal wounds from the past.

Specifically, I use two different hypnotherapy techniques to help clients process trauma: Five-Phased Advanced Transformational Hypnotherapy (5-PATH) and Trauma Collapse Therapy (TCT). The 5-PATH technique was developed specifically for trauma recovery and has been used internationally for more than 20 years. And TCT was created to help people reframe and convert any trauma into a resource so that they don’t keep reliving it over and over again. I’d love to tell you more and answer any questions you might have. Feel free to schedule a consultation with me—it’s completely free.