Living with the aftermath of trauma can mean feeling constantly on edge, trapped in flashbacks or nightmares, or strangely numb and disconnected from your own life. Whether trauma stems from a single frightening event or from prolonged or repeated experiences, often in childhood, its effects can touch every part of daily life — sleep, relationships, work, and your basic sense of safety in the world.
I’m Jonathan Garside, an Associate of The Royal Society of Medicine and a member of The National Hypnotherapy Society, with 30 years’ experience as a clinical hypnotherapist practising in London, Singapore, Sydney and New York, now based on Regent Street. I want to be completely clear from the outset: the recommended first-line treatments for PTSD and complex PTSD are trauma-focused psychological therapies — specifically trauma-focused CBT and EMDR, delivered by clinicians trained specifically in trauma work — sometimes alongside medication. Hypnotherapy is not a substitute for this specialist care, and it isn’t the right setting for processing traumatic memories directly. Where it can genuinely help is in supporting the nervous system regulation, sleep and sense of safety that trauma so often disrupts, alongside your proper trauma treatment.
If you’re in crisis, having thoughts of harming yourself, or don’t feel safe right now, please call the Samaritans free on 116 123, or 999 in an emergency. PTSD UK also offers a helpline on 0808 801 0818 for people aged 16 and over, with support via text on 07860 022 956.
Trauma and PTSD Are More Common Than Many Realise
PTSD develops in around 1 in 5 people following a traumatic event, and it’s frequently under-recognised in primary care — many people live with symptoms for years before they’re identified for what they are. Complex PTSD, which can follow prolonged or repeated trauma, particularly in childhood, presents differently again and needs specialist input in its own right. If you recognise persistent hypervigilance, flashbacks, nightmares, emotional numbing, or a sense of feeling permanently unsafe, it’s genuinely never too late to seek help — PTSD and complex PTSD can be successfully treated years, even decades, after the trauma occurred.
The right first step is your GP, who can refer you for a proper assessment and access to trauma-focused CBT or EMDR through NHS talking therapies or specialist services.
Why Trauma Keeps the Nervous System on High Alert
Trauma fundamentally changes how the nervous system responds to threat. Long after the danger has passed, the body can remain in a state of hyperarousal — scanning constantly for danger, struggling to relax, and reacting to reminders of the trauma as though they were happening again in the present moment. This is why trauma isn’t simply a memory problem; it’s a whole-body, whole-nervoussystem experience, which is exactly why recovery so often needs more than talking alone.
Where Hypnotherapy Can Genuinely Help
Working alongside — and only alongside — the trauma-focused treatment recommended by your GP or specialist team, hypnotherapy sessions can offer valuable support for:
- Calming a hyperaroused nervous system, helping the body learn what safety actually feels like again, outside of therapy sessions.
- Improving sleep, since nightmares and hypervigilance at night are among the most exhausting and common effects of trauma.
- Reducing everyday anxiety and hypervigilance, so daily life feels less like a constant state of alert.
- Rebuilding confidence and a sense of self, particularly once trauma-focused therapy has done its core processing work and you’re rebuilding your life around it.
- Supporting emotional regulation, for the numbness, irritability or overwhelm that often linger even as core trauma symptoms improve.
I don’t use hypnotherapy to explore or process traumatic memories directly — that work belongs with a properly trained trauma specialist, ideally one experienced in complex trauma if that’s part of your picture. What I can offer sits around that core treatment: practical, stabilising support for the nervous system and daily life.
What to Expect From a Session
You remain fully aware and in control throughout hypnosis — it’s a state of calm, focused relaxation, and sessions are always paced entirely around what feels safe for you. We’ll start with an honest conversation about where you are in your recovery, what treatment you’re already receiving, and where additional support would help most. If you haven’t yet been assessed or started trauma-focused treatment, I’ll always encourage that as the essential first step.
A Client’s Story
“I was already working with an EMDR therapist, which was doing the real, difficult work of processing what had happened to me — but I was still barely sleeping, jumping at every noise. Working with Jonathan alongside that therapy helped my nervous system calm down enough to actually sleep through most nights again, which made an enormous difference to how I coped with everything else. It wasn’t a replacement for the EMDR work — it gave me the rest I needed to keep doing it.” — A.N., Marylebone
Getting the Right Support
If you think you may have PTSD or complex PTSD, please speak to your GP, who can refer you for a proper assessment and specialist trauma treatment. PTSD UK is an excellent charity offering information on PTSD and complex PTSD, treatment options, and how to find help. Hypnotherapy can be a valuable part of your wider recovery once you’re connected with the right specialist care — always alongside it, never instead of it.
Ready for Some Extra Support Alongside Your Recovery?
If trauma or PTSD symptoms are affecting your sleep, your sense of safety, or your day-to-day life, I’m based on Regent Street, London — a short walk from Oxford Circus. Your initial consultation can be held either in person or via Telehealth video call, whichever suits you best; therapeutic sessions themselves always take place face-to-face at the clinic.
You can book an initial 30-minute consultation completely FREE of charge No pressure, no obligation — just a conversation about how hypnotherapy could support you on your journey.
To find out more, visit our ADHD and Neurodivergence web page at https://thehypnosisclinic.com/services/trauma-ptsd/