Child abuse and its aftermath

Let me say first that I am not an expert in this field; I write only from my experiences in personal one-to-one therapy work.

Around 12 years ago, not long after I had started on a new path in my life that involved NLP, hypnosis and personal change of all kinds, I went to a hypnotherapy conference. It was a decent event and most of the speakers had interesting things to say.

Near the end, one speaker (who's name escapes me) talked about his work. From Harley Street practice to creating relaxation recordings for airlines with nervous fliers. But one thing stood out and that was his claim that sexual child abuse was widespread; that for more people were abused than we would ever believe. It was thousands, perhaps tens of thousands of children each year.

To be honest I thought he was exaggerating. Of course we hear about child abuse but surely it is rare, isolated and unusual; isn't it?

Now I find in my own practice that again and again I meet people (mainly women) with adult issues where the roots of the problem lie in child abuse. Sometimes it unwanted weight, sometimes it's an old habit, sometimes it's a lack confidence.But the root is frequently that familiar story of abuse.

Often I don't discover this abuse until a second session when the client has developed enough trust in our relationship to be absolutely honest with me. Normally once out in the open, we can deal with the unwanted habit or response that is linked to that old childhood issue.

I don't have a deep answer to the reason why this happens, much less a solution to the problem. But I do look at those intractable patients at the Doctor's surgery and wonder if the reason why they have a problem, is less to do with a medical issue, and much more to do with an emotional response to a trauma from way back.