Can Hypnotherapy Heal Past Toxic Relationships and Traumas? The Answer is Yes, and Here’s How

You’ve gotten out of or managed to escape a toxic relationship. You should be so proud of yourself! 

However, with anything traumatic, there are war wounds. For example, feeling scared to go grocery shopping because you may be confronted by your past abuser; they cannot take no for an answer and they feel they have done nothing wrong, making grocery shopping an anxiety inducing task. 

It’s difficult to deal with the trauma and physical, mental, and emotional scars from toxic and abusive relationships. You’re not alone in feeling this way. 

Toxic relationships are not always specifically romantic; toxicity can be found in friendships and family relationships too. 

With any toxic relationship, the first step is realizing that it is toxic, whether it be physical and/or mental. The second is finding a way out of that relationship and putting yourself and well-being first. 

As your hypnotherapist, I am here to help you through the healing process. Hypnotherapy has helped many in moving forward from past childhood traumas, phobias, or abuse experienced in adulthood. No matter where, when, or how trauma starts or progresses, hypnotherapy can help anyone heal from any traumatic experience, including from abusive relationships.

Learn about trauma bonds, attraction to toxic relationships, and how with hypnotherapy I can help you heal. 

The Attraction to Toxic Relationships and Trauma Bonding

A toxic relationship can happen to anyone, and the reasons behind it are many. These types of relationships prey on a person’s vulnerability, manipulation, and emotional dependency. A person can become trapped within a trauma-bonded relationship due to their feelings of isolation, low self-esteem, or intense desire for external validation and love. The emotional abuse cycle leaves us feeling confused, helpless, and emotionally trapped.

Trauma bonds can be formed through unhealthy patterns, such as seeking love or guidance, like a father figure who was absent, or a mother figure’s nurturing despite abusive behaviour. Bonds like these manifest in many ways, mainly by drawing people into relationships that mirror unresolved emotional needs and patterns from their past experiences and childhood.

What is a trauma bond?

A trauma bond usually takes form when someone creates a deep emotional attachment to another person that causes them harm, or it can also be an unconscious attachment based on shared trauma between two people. Trauma-bonded relationships develop from repeated cycles of abuse and positive reinforcement. 

Signs of trauma bonding:

• Denial of the other person’s fault
• Justification of their actions
• Increasing isolation from any kind of support
• Increasing dependence on the abusive partner

Seven examples of trauma bonds:

• Love bombing: showering with gifts, continuously giving compliments, telling their partner what they want to hear, big on affection and grand gestures, wanting undivided attention, frequently calling and texting, are upset when their partner tries to enforce their boundaries.
• Increasing dependency: gaining trust, only to make the other person feel they can’t depend on anyone else except their partner and them alone, not even their long-time friends or family.
• Criticize and devalue: for example, telling them they’re worthless without them, or weight shame, parent shame, and similar shaming actions.
• Gaslighting: denying something happened, lying, contradicting what they know to be true, making the other person feel like they are overreacting and making them doubt their memory and perception. 
• Submission and resignation: feeling a sense of helplessness and compliance in the relationship, acceptance and surrender to the abusive dynamics of the relationship.
• Loss of self and value: self-explanatory, an effect of the other person’s abusive actions.
• Emotional dependence: lack of self-control and discomfort when not with the person they’re dependent on, feel an unsatisfiable need to be with them and unable to break the ties binding them.

Hypnotherapy for Healing Past Toxic Relationships and Traumas

Hypnotherapy benefits for healing from toxic relationships and traumas:

• Cleanses negative thoughts – toxic relationships cause internalization of hurtful and unkind things the abuser says. Hypnotherapy brings these negative thoughts and feelings forward to deal with them on a deeper level and rid them from your life. 
• Relaxing and rejuvenating – when stress and anxiety are constant, even after leaving or escaping from a toxic relationship, it can be hard to relax. Hypnotherapy brings you into a calming, relaxed state of mind, like floating on a cloud, helping to reduce any residual pain and make you feel good again. 
• Provides a safe environment – to confront your deepest feelings and deal with your negative emotions, you need to feel as if you’re safe and protected. My hypnotherapy space is safe, where you can relax, refresh, and focus on you and what you need in the moment. 
• Letting go of shame – in toxic relationships it is easy to blame ourselves, especially if we have been conditioned by our abuser to do so. This can result in feeling shameful, which is a destructive emotion that prevents you from healing and moving forward. I can help you restore your dignity and sense of worth so you’re able to love yourself for who you really are. 
• Rebuilding self-esteem – self-esteem gets broken down to almost non-existence within a toxic relationship. Being put down and humiliated becomes normal within the relationship; it becomes natural for you to feel worthless and like you are getting what you deserve. I can give you an understanding of where these feelings come from and support you to build back your self-esteem.
• Breaking unhelpful patterns – all toxic relationships include a number of patterns, such as tension buildup. Using hypnotherapy, I can help you recognize these patterns to interrupt them, and introduce and establish newer, healthier patterns within your everyday life. 
• Healing from within – Hypnotherapy focuses on healing and relaxing, so you can go deep within yourself to make yourself whole again.

If you’re ready to try hypnotherapy for healing from your past toxic relationship and trauma, you can book a free no-obligation consultation with me. We will discuss what your needs are so I can tailor a specific hypnotherapy plan to help you. 

If you or someone you know are dealing with traumatic memories, check out How Hypnosis Can Help with Traumatic Memories.

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