From Both Sides of the Glass - Trauma Healing Therapy for the Therapist

A Therapist in the Hot Seat: What I Learned About Trauma, Somatic Memory & the Healing Field

As therapists we’re trained to hold space—tracking breath, watching micro-shifts, anchoring calm. But what happens when the therapist becomes the client?

In this rare dual-perspective reflection: I share what unfolded when I stepped into a hypnotherapy session with with Andrew Parr, an expert Hypnotherapist with over 30 years’ experience both with clients and in teaching with his Academy and author of “The real You”. What I learned reframed everything I thought I knew about trauma, healing, and the field that holds it all.

Setting the Scene: When the Body Speaks First

I wasn’t planning on soul surgery. I offered up my police phobia—thinking it would be a quirky little case. Andrew would wave a pendulum, and I’d float off into a carefree, lawless bliss. That’s not what happened.

I began with humour —joking about taking strange detours to avoid the old bill as if I was a criminal on the run. But while my mouth told jokes, my body delivered the truth. Luckily, the session was recorded, so I got to watch myself squirm later. I expected cringe. I got clarity.

What jumped out at me in the recording was the compulsive self-correction, constant qualifiers, carefully chosen words—while my hands flailed like I was narrating a different, much louder story. As I downplayed things (“it’s just a little difficult”), my hands made wide gestures the body said, “Nope—this is huge.” (Note to self: never take up poker.)

Andrew, calm and unfazed, clearly knew the dance. With gentle authority, he invited me into stillness. And once I quietened—my body stepped forward.

"Look into my eyes..."

No pendulums or Jedi tricks here. Just a gentle invitation to relax. Andrew began repeating my own story back to me in soft, rhythmic tones. It felt like sunshine and waves. I zoned out, tension dissolved... and then my body metaphorically cracked its knuckles and said: Right. My turn.

Phase One: Somatic Waves

The session moved in three distinct phases. First, the “surgical prep”: waves of cold, shivering, pain —accompanied by a distinct archetypical image that brought with it strong emotion and then dizziness. I felt split down the middle - like two different people glued together —practical calm on one side, grief and chaos on the other. Three rounds of this cycle, with a subtle shift each time, gradually integrating the two sides as if the body was saying: "we’re readying the ground - she just needs to be one person first".

Finally, the frozen image unfroze and began to observe. It was time for the next phase to began.

Phase Two: Pictionary with the Psyche

Now came metaphors. My body rifled through the mental archive for something—anything—to explain what it felt.

• A big backpack: like a huge camping backpack, black, almost the same size as me and too heavy. my body describes "I'm feeling burdened and I don't want to carry this anymore!" I decide my partner can take it outside and dump it. The body sighed relief and felt lighter.

• The lead brick? Rubber? No. The body kept throwing options until—“A bath plug then!”—and boom - everything clicked.

The plug was blocking energy between my solar plexus and sacral chakras. I removed it. Energy rushed down. Steam rose up. Flow returned.

Throughout, Andrew gently repeated the original intention with the phrase—"You were told the police could come at any time..."— like an anaesthetist monitoring vital signs while surgery was in full swing. He wasn’t “doing” the trauma healing therapy. He was holding the field steady so it could happen.

Phase Three: Realisation

And then, it came - spontaneously, organically and I could imagine that an actual light bulb appeared above my head and angels sang "AAAAAH she got it!" All my life I felt as though I was in prison, then I got out so of course I felt like I was on probation. but...

“I am not on probation. I never was. I am free.”

This sounds simple but it wasn't a thought—it was a full-body realisation. My body exhaled deeply and visibly relaxed. Something old and stuck had moved. Andrew brought me back gently. I was dazed. I slept dreamlessly and deep.

The Days After: The Field Speaks Back

I felt tender, raw. Quiet. My body craved slowness and silence. Then, something strange happened. A few days after, people from my past popped up for me to face, it wasn't pleasant, they were mocking and dismissing. immediately after, a vague acquaintance spent the rest of the evening brashly relaying my story back at me with uncanny accuracy, and a startling lack of self awareness. I was overwhelmed.

I recognised it as part of a universal field response. When internal shifts happen, the world sometimes mirrors them externally. What I was shown? The parts of me still prone to dismissing myself, my story, my feelings. It was humbling.

Case in Point: The Hornet at the Threshold

That same day, I worked with a client reporting buzzing in his head. As he tried to access the blankness, he became frustrated and agitated and felt trapped.

Right at that moment - I heard buzzing, a hornet appeared in the room— trapped between the blinds and window. I told the client "Its ok, I will take care of this, you can relax" and calmly removed it. Upon returning to the client, he had a spontaneous revelation, he exhaled deeply and visibly relaxed - his anger, like the hornet, released.

The field had shown us the process in physical form. Not coincidence. Resonance.

Reflections from the Therapist Chair

🌀 Hypnotherapy is resonance, not just rapport: Andrew didn’t flinch. He met me where I was. In my own work, I now actively match my state to the client’s and drop into their rhythm.

🌿 Metaphor is medicine: The body speaks in images. Given space, it’ll offer symbols that cut through the mental fog.

🌊 Purge isn’t panic: Emotional release isn’t a meltdown—it’s a detox. Let the client throw up the pain. Your job is to hold their hair and pat their back.

👁️ The body leads: Watch the posture, hands, eyes. They’ll tell you what the client’s words won’t.

🛌 Aftercare matters: Integration is real. Emotional release is physiological too. Encourage rest, grounding food, quiet.

🧘 Therapists must do their work: We’re not perfect. But we mustn’t leak our stories into the room. Do the work. Stay clean.

For Clients: What to Look for in a Great Therapist

✔️ Holds space without flinching

✔️ Empowers you—not their ego

✔️ Listens with their whole body

✔️ Creates resonance, not dependence

✔️ Understands that healing doesn’t end when the session does

Final Thought

Encoded trauma isn’t in the past—it’s in the present body. When the right resonance meets the right readiness, the inner child emerges—not to haunt, but to be witnessed. Positive memories are also encoded too - when we access those in session - the body remembers not only what it is like to feel threat but also to feel peace.

And when she’s finally heard, she can rest and you can be at peace.

Clear out your own clutter...

Ready to explore what your body’s been trying to say? I offer personalised hypnotherapy and somatic work designed to help you release stored trauma and reconnect with your core self.➡️ Book a free consultation or explore my services to take the next step in your healing journey.