Utilization of trance phenomena in the process of treating traumatic experiences

Abstract

Introduction: This article presents a case of trauma treatment using key elements of Ericksonian therapy - utilization and clinical hypnosis. The described approach aligns with current concepts indicating hypnosis as an effective tool in trauma therapy through the restructuring of memories and restoration of a sense of control.

Material and methods: The case study describes a 42-year-old female patient with complex trauma, whose primary reason for seeking help was trismus. The symptom was treated not as an obstacle but as a potential resource, and clinical hypnosis was employed to facilitate access to unconscious healing mechanisms, enabling the therapeutic processing of traumatic memories.

Results: The therapeutic process led to a redefinition of traumatic experiences - giving them a new meaning as a situation from which the patient could learn and gain a sense of control in her internal experience. Through the visualization technique and the symbolic categorization of memories, the patient was able to access emotions and subsequently integrate them. The symptom of trismus was resolved after three months of therapy.

Conclusions: Clinical hypnosis was used as a framework for trauma treatment; trance phenomena, being a consequence of painful trauma (such as dissociation, regression, and amnesia), were viewed as helpful tools for the reconstruction and integration of experiences. Symptomatic trance became the starting point for the therapeutic trance; with change occurring through the focusing and narrowing of attention, as well as systematically returning control to the patient over the pace and scope of the work - which was crucial in cases where trauma had compromised the sense of agency.