Can hypnotherapy cure panic attacks?

stephrose

Hi, did anyone got any positive results from hypnotherapy for panic attacks and anxiety?
I have PTSD and I'm getting panic attacks while being out in public walking or shopping.
Anyone has any suggestions about what can help with that other than medication? I am currently seeing a councillor and doing acupuncture.
Thank you

hotspur

I haven't personally suffered from this and sought hypnotherapy but...short answer yes, a good hypnotherapist may be able to help. But this doesn't mean that going to hypnotherapist offers the best chance of getting over it.

A counsellor may be very helpful with trauma or panic, or they may be pretty useless. It depends on the counsellor and how they work.

It is my own opinion that trauma is best worked with somatically, so therapies such as somatic experiencing or sensorimotor psychotherapy.

Independently of trauma I believe that if a person experiencing panic attacks has panic disorder (which they may not) then I think that a well trained CBT therapist is by far the best choice.

But if you really wanted hypnotherapy for some reason then it should probably be pointed out that very few hypnotherapists out there are otherwise trained as mental health professionals, so many just to be cautious with something such as trauma, because bad therapy for this can retraumatise rather than help.

There are broadly two types of hypnotherapist out there in Ireland, and they do different things. There are those who trained in the Institute of Clinical Hypnotherapy & Psychotherapy. They will call themselves hypnotherapists and psychotherapists, but no-one from the profession of psychotherapy considers them to be psychotherapists as their training is a few weekends long.

But these hypnotherapists do what is known as hypnoanalysis. This is a regression form of hypnotherapy. You can read up on hypnoanalysis online. Hypnotherapists who were not trained by the ICHP and do not say on their website they are hypnoanalysts may or may not use regression. If they are into NLP they may use the rewind technique (for which there is no scientific evidence that it works). Or they may teach relaxation techniques with hypnosis.

Now this latter technique is one which I believe can be helpful for people whose trauma affected physiology is causing a recurrent arousal beyond one's window of tolerance. Hypnotically facilitated relaxation skills are one of a number of ways one can learn to improve self-regulation of the autonomic nervous system.

Preferably I would wish a single, good psychotherapist / psychologist to offer everything that is needed. There are therapists out there who specialise in trauma. But if a counsellor is lacking the skills, and you don't want to switch, then I do think a hypnotherapist can be a helpful adjunct.

stephrose

hotspur wrote: »

I haven't personally suffered from this and sought hypnotherapy but...short answer yes, a good hypnotherapist may be able to help. But this doesn't mean that going to hypnotherapist offers the best chance of getting over it.

A counsellor may be very helpful with trauma or panic, or they may be pretty useless. It depends on the counsellor and how they work.

It is my own opinion that trauma is best worked with somatically, so therapies such as somatic experiencing or sensorimotor psychotherapy.

Independently of trauma I believe that if a person experiencing panic attacks has panic disorder (which they may not) then I think that a well trained CBT therapist is by far the best choice.

But if you really wanted hypnotherapy for some reason then it should probably be pointed out that very few hypnotherapists out there are otherwise trained as mental health professionals, so many just to be cautious with something such as trauma, because bad therapy for this can retraumatise rather than help.

There are broadly two types of hypnotherapist out there in Ireland, and they do different things. There are those who trained in the Institute of Clinical Hypnotherapy & Psychotherapy. They will call themselves hypnotherapists and psychotherapists, but no-one from the profession of psychotherapy considers them to be psychotherapists as their training is a few weekends long.

But these hypnotherapists do what is known as hypnoanalysis. This is a regression form of hypnotherapy. You can read up on hypnoanalysis online. Hypnotherapists who were not trained by the ICHP and do not say on their website they are hypnoanalysts may or may not use regression. If they are into NLP they may use the rewind technique (for which there is no scientific evidence that it works). Or they may teach relaxation techniques with hypnosis.

Now this latter technique is one which I believe can be helpful for people whose trauma affected physiology is causing a recurrent arousal beyond one's window of tolerance. Hypnotically facilitated relaxation skills are one of a number of ways one can learn to improve self-regulation of the autonomic nervous system.

Preferably I would wish a single, good psychotherapist / psychologist to offer everything that is needed. There are therapists out there who specialise in trauma. But if a counsellor is lacking the skills, and you don't want to switch, then I do think a hypnotherapist can be a helpful adjunct.

Thank you for yor reply. Very helpful.

JuliusCaesar

The evidence shows that effective trauma treatments must be trauma-focussed. Will dig up some references when I have time.