How hypnotherapy can support emotional healing from breast cancer

My name is Dr. Petra Pike, and I carry a faulty gene called ATM, a genetic mutation that significantly increases the risk of developing breast and pancreatic cancer. After losing my mum to metastatic breast cancer, I knew I had to take my own health into my hands. I had been by her side through every appointment, every round of treatment, every physical change, and every emotional low. That experience changed me deeply.

In 2023, I made the decision to undergo a preventative double mastectomy with immediate reconstruction. It was a choice made from both fear and love, from the desire to live fully, and from the weight of everything I had witnessed.

But what I didn’t expect was the emotional complexity of it all.

Breast cancer doesn’t just affect the body – it shapes a person’s sense of identity, worth, and wholeness. Watching my mum, I saw how her illness was about so much more than cells or scans. It was about loss of control, of confidence, of femininity, of certainty. It was about grief for the life she thought she’d have, for the body she no longer recognised, for the ease that had been taken away.

The emotional reality of breast cancer

Breast cancer and its treatments often leave emotional wounds that are harder to see.

Many people face:

• anxiety and panic, especially around recurrence
• depression or emotional numbness after treatment ends
• body image struggles, particularly after mastectomy or reconstruction
• anger, grief, or resentment at their diagnosis, their bodies, or at life itself
• a feeling of being emotionally stuck, as though time has moved on, but they haven’t

These are normal reactions to a life-altering experience. But they are also often left unspoken, unacknowledged, or misunderstood.

Where does hypnotherapy come in?

Hypnotherapy works by gently guiding the mind into a deeply relaxed state, allowing access to the subconscious mind, where beliefs, habits, fears, and emotional memories live. It is in this space that real, lasting emotional change can happen – not through force, but through compassion and inner connection.

For people navigating breast cancer, hypnotherapy can help:

• release stored emotional pain from diagnosis, surgery, or loss
• reframe negative thought patterns, such as fear of recurrence or self-criticism
• strengthen inner resilience and emotional coping
• reconnect with the body in a way that feels safe and accepting
• restore confidence, identity, and a sense of purpose beyond the illness

It’s not a quick fix. But it is a gentle and powerful tool for moving from survival mode into a place of healing.

Healing is not just physical

Looking back, I realise that true healing only began when I acknowledged the emotional impact of what I had lived through – not just as a daughter, but as a woman navigating risk, choice, loss, and transformation.

Hypnotherapy became a way to make peace with my body, my grief, and my new reality. It helped me rediscover parts of myself that had been buried in fear and sadness. Most of all, it reminded me that healing is not about returning to who we were before-but becoming someone new with softness, strength, and self-compassion.

To anyone navigating this path-whether you’re in treatment, recovery, or living in the “after” – you are not alone. Your feelings are valid. And there are ways to heal that go beyond the physical.

Because you are more than your diagnosis.

You are more than your scars.

You are still whole. You are still worthy. And you are still beautifully you.