Yes — when delivered by a trained, experienced and appropriately qualified therapist, hypnotherapy is a safe and effective approach for trauma and PTSD. The key distinction is that our techniques are designed to work with traumatic material from a position of safety and distance rather than through direct re-exposure or detailed recounting. We never push clients further or faster than feels comfortable and we always work at your pace. If you have any concerns about whether our approach is right for your specific situation we will discuss them openly during your free assessment call.

PTSD typically develops following a single traumatic event or a defined period of trauma — a road accident, an assault, a disaster. Complex PTSD — sometimes written as C-PTSD — develops as a result of prolonged, repeated trauma, often occurring in childhood or in situations where escape was difficult or impossible, such as domestic abuse, childhood neglect or prolonged combat exposure. Complex PTSD tends to have a broader and deeper impact on a person's sense of self, their relationships and their ability to regulate emotion. Both PTSD and complex PTSD respond well to the approaches we use at Newcastle Hypnotherapy, though complex PTSD typically requires a longer and more carefully paced programme.

No — and for many of our clients this is the most important thing to know before they make contact. Our primary techniques for trauma — including NLP Visual Kinaesthetic Dissociation and specific hypnotherapy approaches — are specifically designed to process traumatic material without requiring detailed recounting of events. You do not need to tell us everything that happened in order for the treatment to work. We need enough to understand your situation and tailor the approach — but we will never push you to go further than feels safe and comfortable.

Traditional trauma-focused talking therapies require clients to repeatedly revisit and narrate traumatic experiences, which can itself be retraumatising and is not effective for everyone. Our approach works differently — accessing and processing traumatic material at the subconscious and neurological level rather than through conscious recounting. We also address the physiological and nutritional dimensions of trauma recovery that talking therapies typically do not touch. Many of our clients across Newcastle and the North East come to us having had years of therapy with limited relief — and find that our approach finally produces the shift they had been looking for.

This varies significantly depending on the nature, duration and complexity of the trauma, how long it has been present and how it has affected you. Single-incident trauma often responds very well within four to eight sessions. Complex or prolonged trauma typically requires a longer programme — though many clients notice meaningful relief from the very first sessions. We will give you a clear, honest and realistic picture during your free assessment call and we will never keep you in therapy longer than is genuinely needed.