Hypnotherapy: Easing the trauma of the Middle Eastern conflict

Since the 7th of October 2023, we've been met through our phone screens with the attacks the people of Palestine have been subjected to, in what has been the most public genocide in our history.

After nine months, The Lancet medical journal has given a conservative estimate of 186,000 dead, with many thousands more injured, orphaned, or homeless. Many of the images and videos to have come out of Gaza and the West Bank are incredibly graphic and upsetting with threats of further wars and colonisation by Israel in the surrounding Arabic countries.

How is this affecting us?

Certain groups of people will be more affected by the events in the Middle East than others, including those with friends and family living in Gaza, Israel, and surrounding countries, the Jewish community, and those of the Islamic faith. But even for those of us with no connection to the events taking place, our hearts hang heavy over what is unfolding.

A sense of hopelessness is commonplace amongst us onlookers, we are able to see the death and trauma taking place and feel there is nothing we can do to stop this. We respond with emotions of despair, anger, and grief, yet have no outlet to release that emotion. Remember, emotion is an energy, that propels us into action. Anger helps to protect us and fight, fear helps to flee, and so on. Our bodies hold onto the emotions and this can lead to poor sleep, increased irritability, and an overall decline in physical and mental health.

Hypnotherapy techniques for coping

Simple relaxation techniques can help to calm our nervous systems and ground us. Breathing into the count of four and out to the count of seven helps to activate our parasympathetic nervous system – responsible for rest and digestion.

There are also simple grounding techniques where we think of five things we can see, four things we can hear, three things we can feel, two things we can smell, and one we can taste. These two strategies can be used to help manage and cope with overwhelming emotions. 

Humans have an incredible ability to release emotions – crying being the most well-known. Using hypnotherapy and unlocking that subconscious state of mind can be very effective for helping emotion to flow. This can be followed up with post-hypnotic suggestions and visualisation to build emotional resilience, helping to better cope with future news coming from our news outlets. 

Journaling can also help to release trapped emotions as well as gain clarity and understanding of them, as we put our thoughts down on paper. Singing and physical exercise are two further examples of many that can provide emotional relief. 

What else can be done?

Ultimately, we onlookers want to be more than just “onlookers”, we want to be proactively involved, particularly in ending the genocide of the Palestinian people. Peaceful protests have been taking place on a regular basis in major cities across the world, exceeding 100,000 people marching through the streets in a beautiful show of solidarity. The non-violent nature ensures the safety and security of all who attend, opening up a profound sense of connection, togetherness, and appreciation for the good-hearted people that surround you. Standing up for humanity in a show of unity that leaves lasting impressions on the minds of politicians. It is an empowering and emotional experience.

Human beings have an incredible ability to heal, adapt, and inflict suffering on others. Hypnotherapy can help to unlock those abilities to heal and build resilience to stress. And healthy activism can restore your hope in humanity.