Hypnosis & Healing the Inner Child

For many people, their childhood was less than ideal. Sometimes, it’s the everyday stresses of being an adult that keeps us from healing these wounds and moving forward in our lives.

Other times, it’s the traumatic experiences that can haunt people throughout their whole lives and result in issues with intimacy or a lack of self-esteem and confidence.

Whatever the case may be, hypnosis can help you heal your inner child and achieve peace and happiness in your life, today.

What is hypnosis?

Before we get into how hypnosis can help with healing your inner child, we should first define what hypnosis is. While there are multiple definitions and uses for hypnosis, it is widely accepted that hypnosis is a state of heightened attention and relaxation.

It allows someone to experience the possibility of extreme suggestibility and changes in perception, often resulting in decreased awareness of one’s surroundings. Depending on who you ask, some view hypnosis as something mystical or magical, while others see it as an altered state of consciousness characterized by extreme suggestibility. The truth is that hypnosis really falls somewhere between these two views.

How does hypnosis work?

When hypnotized, your conscious mind becomes less active some experts describe it as a sort of sleep state in which your brain activity is much lower than normal.

It’s at this point that your unconscious can be accessed—and herein lies part of its healing power.

The subconscious controls a great deal of our behavior—much more than most people realize; tapping into it can help us make changes in our lives. In other words, hypnosis opens up new possibilities for growth and change; it unlocks parts of ourselves that have been hidden from consciousness.

While meditation may tap into these same powers, hypnosis helps unlock them more quickly. Anyone can enter a deep hypnotic state and benefit from its effects on his or her inner child.

Whether or not you use hypnosis regularly is up to you of course—but if you do decide to give it a try, keep in mind: This isn’t something that will fix everything overnight!

Brain Waves and Hypnosis

Brain Waves (or EEG brain waves) are measured in cycles per second, referred to as Hertz (Hz). The following are four common frequencies: Beta (12-40 Hz), Alpha (7.5-12 Hz), Theta (4-7.5 Hz), and Delta (0.5-4 Hz). Each has its own unique set of characteristics.

Beta waves produce our normal waking state of consciousness – alert, active, focused, problem-solving, judgmental, etc.

Alpha waves are an idling state just below beta, more focused and relaxed than beta but still capable of being productive.

Theta waves are a lower frequency state and are often associated with lucid dreaming, light sleep, and deep meditation.

Delta waves are an even lower frequency state which occurs during deep, dreamless sleep, and deep transcendental meditative or hypnotic states.

Can you trust hypnosis-based therapies?

While hypnotherapy is a natural healing method that has been used for thousands of years, today it is perhaps more highly scrutinized than ever before. But just because someone questions its validity, that doesn’t mean they aren’t interested in trying it—quite the opposite.

People are so curious about hypnotherapy that they want to know all they can about it and whether they can rely on it. This makes sense; after all, if you were going to use a new medicine or treatment option for something as important as your health, you wouldn’t settle for anything less than complete transparency, right? You would want to fully understand how your body was reacting to it and whether there were any side effects involved.

Despite what many think about hypnotherapy (that it only works on people who believe in it), plenty of research suggests otherwise.

Is Hypnotherapy Safe?

The answer is yes.

In fact, it’s been in use since ancient times and found in many different cultures around the world. The word hypnosis comes from the Greek word: Hypnos, meaning sleep.

It works by placing you into a state of heightened suggestibility—similar to daydreaming—which allows your therapist to bypass your conscious thoughts, making suggestions directly accessible to your subconscious mind.

But fear not! You won't be made to cluck like a chicken after some special code word is spoken. It doesn't work like that. You are in complete control and more aware than you realize through the entire experience!

Why use hypnotherapy for anxiety, self-esteem, childhood abuse, addictions, etc.?

There are many reasons for turning to hypnotherapy for help, although it is not a substitute for conventional therapies, hypnotherapy can work with any other treatment you may be doing.

It has been used with success for addictions and also to treat childhood abuse issues by going back through time and reliving them so that healing can take place.

It can help remove anxiety, self-esteem issues, and the effects of childhood abuse because it can release them from your subconscious mind where they still reside today.

Hypnotic age regression therapy

During hypnotic age regression therapy, a therapist puts patients into a state of altered consciousness, known as a trance, and takes them back in time. The patient experiences events in their past and can reenact and resolve certain issues. Age regression is often used to help heal childhood trauma.

You might be wondering if it’s possible to reverse your age through hypnosis. It’s not that you’re regressing in chronological years; instead, you’re accessing your inner child – an aspect of yourself that was formed around early life experiences, before adulthood.

Self-hypnosis as a complement to therapy or treatment

Self-hypnosis can be a great way for your inner child to get support from your subconscious. In addition, hypnotherapy can be recommended as a complementary treatment alongside traditional therapy.

For example, if you’re in counseling for depression, hypnotherapy might help you reprogram your inner voice and improve how you feel about yourself.

Self-hypnosis might also be used as part of an addiction treatment plan or to help with stress management.

Whatever you choose, using self-hypnosis is not only safe but also effective.

Where to Get Started with Self-hypnosis

A great place to start is by looking on YouTube, believe it or not! There are TONS of guided self-hypnosis sessions. This can help you test the waters while in the privacy and comfort of your own space. For one, you will be more comfortable sinking into the hypnotic state, and two, it's a great way to try before paying for someone's services. Just trust your impressions and your experiences and keep a journal of said experiences!

I wish you well on your path to healing!

-SMW