Hypnotherapy for Young Students with an Abusive Past

Even though we may be aware of how children relate to us, consciously or unconsciously we enforce our thoughts and actions and sometimes even show our power by physically hurting them. There are severe forms of ramifications in the impressionable minds of the child exposed to abuse, especially that in relation to sexual abuse. As a counsellor, paying attention to an adolescent narrating their painful memories of abuse is an excruciating journey for both the student and the counsellor. The empathy that emanates from intent listening is so powerful that it is impossible not to feel their pain as they recount their memories of trauma. Sometimes, as parents or teachers it makes us recollect our own repressed traumas too. In this document, based on years of experience as a counsellor and a hypnotherapist, the primary author lists issues relating to abuse are explained for the benefit of parents, teachers and fellow therapists. Hypnotherapy, or therapy through the use of hypnosis, has been very effective in treating young impressionable mind to deal with various forms of unreconciled abuse in the past. Special emphasis is provided on the use of memory and the challenges it poses on both the therapist and the victim. Finally, emphasis is put on the efficacy of hypnotherapy and the relevance of this being recognised and included in the curriculum of universities for psychologists and medical students. In this document, children, young students, adolescents are interchangeably used.