Historically trauma was found to be difficult to treat using cognitive and analytical approaches, NLP and hypnotherapy alone fared little better. The problem was in part due to the way in which therapists viewed trauma and an inaccurate model of the entire concept of trauma. The model and level of understanding improved and a desensitisation approach was adopted with the advent of the Swish technique (shared between hypnotherapy and NLP) - this enabled hypnotherapy / NLP / CBT to equalise in terms of effectiveness for trauma resolution.

Then EMDR came along and was adopted by the hypnotherapy world, REBT also came along and was adopted by the cognitive world. Both approaches targeted limiting belief systems, but REBT only ever really changed perceptions re the trauma and did not effectively deal with the core issue itself. As EMDR became formalised it became the most effective approach when dealing with trauma / PTSD, but was not suitable for all / had limited benefits for a small percentage of patients.

The current approach of merging hypnotherapy with EMDR and utilising the most effective elements from CBT/REBT/NLP is easily the most effective treatment protocol ever defined. The model used to describe trauma has now also been greatly updated. Modern methods that utilise computer based technologies to generate the eye movements represent the state of the art in terms of trauma treatment.

In summary it is fair to say that issues that used to take 20 years to resolve (in part) can now be resolved (completely) in as few as 2-5 combined EMDR / NLP / hypnotherapy sessions.