Personally I didn't do well under hypnosis. It was so bad, the therapist had to bring me out real quickly. Then I ended up having more memories than I could possibly deal with. I usually give caution to hypnosis for repressed issues. I know everyone is an individual and unique. But I still give caution. I wish you the best. I'm sorry you got hurt by your brother. Please take good care of yourself.

I didn't have much luck with hypnosis either. It did help me learn to meditate and ground myself, however, but not to help process bad memories.

I was sexually abused by my older brother, too, so I have some idea about what you're going through. This is a safe place for you to share your feelings. You'll find that there are many of us on here who have experienced sibling abuse. You're not alone.

I talked to a guy today who was a police officer and then a firefighter. He had counseling for a while and then the guy suggested hypnosis. He said that, in 5 sessions, it did the trick!

He knew the guy really well. They were long time friends. SO there was also a lot of trust there as well as an honest caring for him as a person and a desire to help.

I tried hypnosis for some other things and didn't find it helpful, but they have been the context or the person giving it to me that was the real problem. You know how you get good and bad doctors, therapists, customer service reps, etc.

A lot depends on the person as well as the therapy. :)

Thanks, everyone, for the replies.

I'm just really starting to "put the pieces together" as to why I accept certain less than acceptable circumstances of my life. I think the best way I can mend my future is to completely heal the past. Strange how hard that seems to be.
jericabee

I can really relate to the struggle to clear out repressed feelings. One of my doctors recently recommended hypnotherapy. I wonder if my hypervigilence would get in the way of being hypnotized. I haven't tried it yet. Thanks for bringing this up.

I tried hypnotherapy during the summer for about 5 sessions. The short term results were good as it pin pointed my problem (PTSD, after witnessing an attack) and explained my chronic bouts of anxiety but hasn't as such cured it in anyway.

I think psychotherapy is going to be longer but get more results for me and would recommend the same to you. hope things work out in any case.

Hey, check out some books by Alice Miller. Woodlandpath originally suggested them to me. BEST RECOMMENDATION EVER! They totally help with healing the past. Amazing stuff. I just go to the library for my books. :)

It really is not strange to say that you need to heal the past to have a healthy future.It is totally right. I have only this year come to this conclusion and know that if I do not do this I will be repeating bad choices that my past made me prone to for the rest of my life. Hypnosis sounds a bit drastic to me. I does not work on me but if it did there might be too much to deal with at once. I have found the stuff counselling has dug up hard enough. I couldnt face being so much under anybody elses control either.With me it was my Father.

I feel just like Hannah says: It would be too much to let myself be under someone's control. That in itself would be too stressful, regardless of what, if anything, came out in the hypnosis.

I'm curious, though. Everyone who responded was talking about discovering or reviewing memories under hypnosis. What you were asking (I think) is whether hypnosis can be used to "forget" or change memories or feelings. It's a good question. If it can do that, I might be more willing to think about it as a treatment, since I don't like the idea of drugs or doctors. With a hypnotherapist, hubby could be there to protect me. Anyone have thoughts on hypnosis to clear away the bad stuff?

I asked my therapist about hypnosis and he said he does it but wouldn't do it on someone with childhood abuse issues. I guess it just brings everything back too quickly and people have trouble dealing with it all. My brain recently did a "data dump" and it was all I could handle. Took me a week to pick myself up again.

for the best way is to go through the whole event. its a minute by minute, day by day process. i do a lot of writing about the traumas and find that useful. i don't think id go for hypnosis, it seem to be a quick fix and in my experience quick fixers dont work. hope that helps, all strenght and courage to you

There's a show on Hypnosis on PBS right now. I bet you could check for a rerun of it. Usually there is one in the middle of the night that you can record. This show is called "Supernatural Science: Open to Suggestion." I only found it by going to our local station, www.azpbs.org. However, you can go to www.pbs.org and, on the left side, do a schedule search based on your zip code.

I love PBS. Thanks for telling me that. It might be good to watch that.

Anyway, thanks to everyone.
jericabee