Kristen Vasosaust is a life coach and hypnotist. In practice, Ms. Vasosaust incorporates customized modalities for her client’s specific needs. In the following article, Kristen Vasosaust discusses ways hypnosis is gaining ground among those treating patients with OCD and autism, as well as additional applications to treat or alleviate symptoms of various phobias.
Hypnosis in general has been enjoying increased acceptance among medical practitioners and patients alike with its effects now being well documented. Recent studies have raised the question: can hypnosis help people specifically with autism?
An autistic person has difficulties in social settings, often has repetitive behaviors and unusual responses to stimuli. The various symptoms of autism can in some cases be relieved through the use of hypnosis reports Kristen N. Vasosaust. This is because hypnosis is an individually based approach that lowers stress and raises relaxation through the suggestion of a different focus.
In this article, Kristen Vasosaust covers how hypnosis can help with autism-related symptoms.
How Hypnosis Helps
Listed below are the autism-related symptoms that hypnosis can aid in lessening:
- Stress
- Depression
- Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
- Phobias
Kristen N. Vasosaust takes a closer look into each of these symptoms, and how different therapy methods can help.
Stress
Stress is a crucial factor in the life of an autistic person, no matter what part of the spectrum they are on. According to the
National Autistic Society, those with autism are actually more likely to experience anxiety and stress. Although this experience does vary on an individual basis, it well known that those who are autistic have a much lower threshold for anxiety than those without.
Kristen Vasosaust says an autistic person may not just suffer mentally and emotionally by stress, but according to Spectrum News, the effects can be physical, as well. Those who are autistic can become overwhelmed by fatigue and experience a lack of energy to do everyday tasks thanks to their elevated response to stress.
Stress can also be a steppingstone toward more negative symptoms, such as depression.
The reason hypnosis can be so helpful to someone with autism is because nearly all therapy sessions begin by facilitating relaxation. According to
Time magazine, most hypno-specialists will work to discover imagery or sounds that lower each client’s levels of stress.
This helps an autistic person to not only relax during the therapy session, but to understand how to retreat into a calmer state of mind when exposed to stressful stimuli.
Depression
Depression plagues many people across the world, but for those with autism, the chances of becoming depressed are increased by their position in life says Kristen N. Vasosaust. For example, in addition to having to experience higher levels of stress, an autistic person may also feel varying levels of estrangement from society or a lack of acceptance in their social circles.
These can lead to feelings of isolation, sadness, and depression. According to Healthline, a person with autism that is suffering from depression may not be able to fully heal, but those depressive episodes can be lessened.
Hypnosis not only offers a relaxing mental environment for an autistic person to experience calm emotions, but it offers an avenue for someone who is depressed to feel some measure of control over their emotions. This opens the path for people with autism and depression to feel hopeful and motivated.
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, or OCD, is a range of compulsive behaviors that usually stem from development issues or emotional problems. Those with autism can experience OCD thanks to a particular susceptibility to both of these problems.
Hypnosis does have a proven record of being able to help the client achieve a sense of calm suggestibility through regressive therapy. In regressive therapy, someone under the influence of hypnosis may be able to recall points in time that were once forgotten.
In this mental state that an autistic person with obsessive compulsive disorder may be able to remember what events or triggers cause the behaviors associated with OCD and begin lessening these habits.
Phobias
According to NHS, a phobia is a fear which can become debilitating and overwhelming and is associated with either an object, creature, situation, place or even a feeling. Phobias are generally worse than typical fear-responses because they are much more pronounced and do not normally coincide with rational thought or response to present dangers.
Phobias are a common sub-type of the anxiety that autistic people are prone to. Because those with autism see the world differently than those without, and often experience a more intense set of emotions in response to their stimuli, phobias can be especially debilitating for them.
However, hypnosis utilizes a technique called “desensitization” explains Kristen N. Vasosaust. While in the calm state that the treatment provides, an autistic client experiencing desensitization will be able to visualize their phobia as a series of steps.
From there, the client can then work through each step with relaxation techniques until all fear is disassociated from the things that trigger the phobia.
In Conclusion
In summary, hypnosis can be very useful in lowering symptoms like stress, phobias, obsessive compulsive disorders, and even depression. This is because all of the above symptoms are connected with emotional states, and hypnosis treatment allows an autistic patient to experience some relaxation and control over those emotional states.
