Can Hypnosis Help With Grief, and How?

Grief is a universal experience that’s as painful as it’s inevitable. It sneaks up on us during some of the most profound and, frankly, some of the most seemingly trivial moments of our lives. It can manifest as heart-wrenching loss of a spouse or the sorrow a child feels when their goldfish doesn’t greet them in the morning. It’s a terrible thing, truly one of the worst emotions you can feel because it comes from a place of love, loss, and sometimes, regret.

But here’s the deal: every single one of us will experience grief. It’s a feeling of sadness that’s brought on by a sense of loss. And loss can come in many shapes and forms – from losing a friend to moving away from a place you’ve come to call home. It hits us in ways we often can’t predict or understand immediately.

In this blog post and accompanying video, we’re diving deep into the world of grief – not just to understand it but to find ways to navigate through it. Because while grief might be a universal experience, it doesn’t mean we have to go through it alone or without tools to help us cope. Let’s explore how hypnosis can offer comfort and a path toward healing.

Understanding Grief

Grief is complex, multifaceted, and deeply personal.

Consider Mike Mandel’s grief when he realized his trip to Ireland was coming to an end. The ending of a trip wouldn’t normally be thought of as something one grieves, but it absolutely can be!

He hadn’t even left yet, and the sadness was already setting in as he began to miss the Lisheen Castle and all the wonderful places he had visited. His experience highlights that the emotional bond we form with places, things, and people, shapes the depth and nature of our grief.

In Traditional Chinese Medicine, grief is intimately connected with the lungs. This might seem odd at first glance, but think about how we physically respond to intense sadness: we sigh. A sigh is a deep breath that often signifies an attempt to relieve emotional or physical pain. It’s our body’s natural way of trying to process and release grief.

Throughout his journey as a therapist in the 1990’s, Mike Mandel met countless clients suffering with grief. He realized that grief doesn’t hit once and then recede; it sweeps over us in waves, each triggered by often trivial experiences that remind us of our loss. When Mike’s father passed away, his stepmother didn’t start grieving deeply for him until she found a pair of his reading glasses in a drawer. Such triggers are deeply personal and can evoke powerful emotional responses, often when least expected.

Maintaining a connection to old memories can help. A dog’s leash, a photograph, or even a favorite book can become treasured mementos that help keep the memory of a loved one alive. However, it’s essential to recognize that grief, in its essence, never fully disappears. It changes form, becomes softer, and less frequent with time, but it remains a part of our emotional landscape.

The challenge, then, is not to eliminate grief but to understand and process it. Ignoring or repressing it only leads to deeper emotional turmoil. The good news is that there are tools and techniques, such as hypnosis, that can help us navigate the tumultuous waters of grief, discharging its overwhelming power and helping us to keep the good memories alive while acknowledging the pain of loss.

In the next sections, we’ll explore how hypnosis and other complementary methods can offer a pathway through grief, allowing us to heal and move forward with our lives.

Strategies for Managing Grief

When grief’s waves threaten to pull us under, it’s good to have a strategy to manage its overwhelming force. Here are some incredibly helpful approaches:

Hypnosis: A Pathway Through Grief

Hypnosis offers a powerful means to address and mitigate the pain of grief. Through hypnosis, we can reach a state of focused attention and heightened suggestibility, where we’re more open to positive messages and healing thoughts. It allows us to discharge and de-potentiate the power of grief, reducing its intensity and making it more manageable.

Direct Suggestion in Hypnosis is always a good choice. You can overwhelm the bad feelings of grief by giving the unconscious mind powerful and positive suggestions.

Hypnosis can even enable people to visualize themselves saying goodbye to that person or thing they have lost, bringing closure to that period of their lives, and enabling them to move on. This technique highlights the importance of clearing out the negative emotions and backfilling that empty space with something positive, like good memories of the person and all the good things they brought into our lives.

Integrating Complementary Techniques

While hypnosis stands as a powerful tool in the grief management toolkit, integrating other methods can enhance its effectiveness. Techniques like the Jin Shin Jyutsu, a Japanese method. It involves grasping the ring finger until you feel a pulse and holding it firmly as you feel the pulsation. According to this system, this technique helps discharge and de-potentiate the negative emotions and help you feel better.

Mike Mandel’s own 6-step tapping method will do the same, de-potentiating the negative emotions while keeping all the good memories intact. Watch the video below to understand this method.

Freespotting, a novel technique that has proven great for self work, can address different layers of grief, especially those that surface later in the healing process. Click here to learn more about Freespoting and its benefits.

When Should You Treat Grief?

There’s a common belief that one should wait before addressing grief, to let it “settle.” We don’t think that makes any sense whatsoever.

Instead, we advocate for early intervention. Why wait and allow the pain to root deeper, making it harder to heal? Starting the process early doesn’t mean rushing through it. Instead, it means acknowledging the pain and actively taking steps to manage it, facilitating a healthier healing journey.

Learning and applying techniques like hypnosis on oneself can be incredibly empowering. It gives you a sense of control over your healing process. However, there’s also immense value in seeking the support of a skilled hypnotist. A professional can guide you through the nuances of grief management, tailoring their approach to your specific needs.

What’s Next?

As we’ve explored the profound impact grief can have on our lives and the transformative potential of hypnosis in navigating through it, the importance of accessing the right resources and support cannot be overstated. If you or someone you know is grappling with the pain of loss, now is the time to take a step toward healing.

The Mike Mandel Hypnosis Academy (MMHA) offers a comprehensive suite of resources, courses, and personalized support designed to empower you with the tools and techniques of hypnosis to manage grief. Whether you’re new to hypnosis or looking to deepen your practice, MMHA provides an accessible, supportive community and expert guidance to help you harness the healing power of your own mind.

By learning and applying the principles of hypnosis, you can start a journey of healing and transformation, keeping the memories of your loved ones alive in a way that brings peace and resilience. Join the MMHA community today and discover how you can turn your grief into a path of personal growth and emotional strength.

Healing starts with a single step. Let MMHA be your guide on this journey. Click here to get started for free.