Dealing with Grief Using Hypnotherapy

The death of a loved one is always a devastating experience, and no one can be expected to come to terms with it quickly. With our aging population, many Baby Boomers are now caring for aging parents who pass away in their care. Grieving is a natural process that allows us gradually to take in the reality of our new situation, deal with our sorrow, and eventually begin to move forward again in our lives. Most people can manage this with the support of family and friends.

But sometimes the grief can completely overwhelm a bereaved person, and they can flounder in their efforts to deal with it. They can become incapacitated, alienating themselves from the world. This is when seeking Hypnotherapy could be critical.

I am experienced in a number of techniques which provide the grieving client with healing and, in certain circumstances, with closure. Such a technique is the Cording Technique which allows the client to speak to the person (or pet, if this is the case) who has passed on. This safe, gently interactive technique allows the person the opportunity to say things that perhaps were not said, due to many circumstances. The subconscious mind does not distinguish between what is real and what is imagined and the experience is vitally personal. One person may feel that just the ACT of “pretending” to speak with his/her departed loved one is cathartic while others perceive that they have ACTUALLY spoken to his/her loved one “one the other side”. Whatever my beliefs may be, there is no denying the calm and peace that shines from my client’s face while experiencing this amazing moment. And this calmness emerges with my clients back into the conscious state.

This particular technique is cathartic not only with those that have lost loved ones who have had a chance to live their lives but also with women who have miscarried. In each case, most are able to connect with the “spirit” and receive loving messages from those they loved and cared about.

There is also the “death” of a relationship. This grief is no less painful than those described above. Deep grief is often experienced when a life that one knew is torn away. Again, the technique applies to this circumstance as well.

As well as Interactive Therapy, I use Therapist Driven Therapy, also known as Direct Suggestion, to aid the client with a very important function that is robed when experiencing deep grief: SLEEP. Suggestions for restful sleep allow the body, mind and spirit to vent. The critical conscious mind, which is part conscious mind and part subconscious mind, becomes overwhelmed without sleep to aid it in the venting process of thoughts that do not serve the person. This in itself goes such a long way to steer the person into healing.

What I have found to be invaluable to me as a Clinical Hypnotherapist is that grief must be acknowledged and experienced. A person must be allowed to grieve for a period of time as this is a normal process. However, intervention of some kind, be it Hypnotherapy, Psychotherapy or any counseling, should be considered if the person is languishing in this state and becoming completely overwhelmed and shutting off from the world. At times the person grieving may not be in a mental state to see this. It is then important for the family or close friends of the bereaved to see the signs and suggest help.