Pain is a very important message that lets us know if our body is in danger. The pain message helps prevent us from doing something that may make an injury worse than it already is. However these messages are processed not at the place that is hurting but relayed back from the brain to the injury.
The problem with this system is that these signals can become switched on even when the body has physically healed. The brain is actually controlling the amount of pain that we are experiencing and in effect, opening and closing “gates” that govern how much of the signal from the injury to let through. The brain can also choose to close these gates by releasing endorphins that will block that signal.
Now when a client comes to see me with pain issues it is important for them and myself that they are in touch with their GP or surgeon since we want to be sure that the sensations they are experiencing are not part of an underlying ongoing issue. Once that is clear then it really is possible to look for other ways to quieten down the constant messages that the brain has not yet switched off.
Hypnotherapy and Emotional Freedom Technique can be exceptionally effective in helping the mind safely bypass the “switched on” pain channel. By accessing deep relaxation, engaging the creative mind and releasing unconscious negative thinking around the issue I have actually witnessed clients who struggled to reach my office on the first floor actually walk out with hardly a limp in their step.
As with most of the work I do there are so many factors controlling our unconscious behaviour that it is virtually impossible to access and deal with them all using conscious thinking. Telling myself it doesn’t hurt just won’t cut it. The unconscious creative is the part that will help us access much deeper levels of safety and healing. Hypnosis and trance are the pathways I use to access the part that knows how to help us make important unconscious change.
Working in this we way we can begin to “rewire” the old connections and replace them with newer, healthier and more appropriate connections. Scientists call this process of rewiring neuroplasticity.