The Mindfulness-Based Phase-Oriented Trauma Therapy (MB-POTT): Hypnosis-informed mindfulness approach to trauma

ABSTRACT

Hypnosis has long been successfully used in the treatment of trauma and related disorders. In this paper, I describe a hypnosis-informed approach to PTSD using mindfulness. The Mindfulness-Based Phase-Oriented Traumatic Therapy (MB-POTT) follows the phase-oriented tradition that was originally proposed by Pierre Janet, later expanded by Daniel Brown and Erika Fromm using clinical hypnosis.

MB-POTT comprises four distinct, yet recursive, stages: (1) therapeutic alliance building and symptom stabilization, (2) formation of a narrative about the trauma, (3) re-creation of meaning of life after trauma, and (4) future symptom management. In explaining these categories, I delineate the nature of mindfulness, both similarities and dissimilarities to hypnosis, with an emphasis on techniques that resemble hypnotic approaches (e.g., ego state therapy, ego-strengthening).

Finally, I provide a case study in which MB-POTT was implemented with a client who suffered from PTSD after a near-fatal industrial accident.

KEYWORDS:

• Loving-Kindness Meditation
• Mindfulness
• Mindfulness-Based Phase-Oriented Trauma Therapy (MB-POTT)
• Trauma

Acknowledgements

The author thanks Marion and Penny Kostka as well as the two anonymous reviewers for their insightful comments on the earlier version of this paper. The author alone however is solely responsible for any inaccuracies in this article.

Notes

¹ I appreciate the client’s permission to discuss his case anonymously in this article. Any potentially identifiable information has been either omitted or altered.