Trauma Reduction Methods
If the images are very strong and you were present at the scene of the trauma, you may need to get some professional help from a counsellor, psychologist or psychiatrist. For some people just talking about the images or using guided visualisation may help but for others it is not enough. In the last few years some special methods have been developed to help you store these images properly in your brain so that they are no longer distressing. Below are a few of these methods - others will be found on the internet but investigate them carefully.
Narrative Reprocessing This method is for use with a professional but is mentioned here to help people understand the different trauma reduction methods available. It is a method of processing your 'trauma' story, whereby the story is reported in the past tense so that emotions are less likely to be aroused. In other methods, such as CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy) you are asked to tell the story in the present tense.
Rewind, an NLP technique ( NLP = Neuro-Linguistic Programming) : You are helped to relax and then use your imagination to show the incident on a 'screen' in a certain way, before rewinding the 'film'.
EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitisation Reprocessing): a method using left-right eye movements or clicking on either side of your head. It acts rather like the rapid eye movement stage of sleep. It can also help people who have blanked out all images of the event or find it hard to talk about it. It should only be used as part of another therapy, not alone. It is approved by the Government's National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE).
TIR (Traumatic Incident Reduction) : a short term counselling method which allows the client to examine systematically and thoroughly the traumatic incident so that it loses its emotional power.
Other therapies have their own methods for dealing with strong images and some people find methods such as clinical hypnotherapy helpful.
"Time can help, but only if helpful things happen in that time."
You need to be an active partner in your recovery. Many images will not go away unless you do something active to deal with them. They can be buried until something reactivates them like a smell, taste (tastes and smells can bring back forgotten memories of childhood), date, phrase, person, or similar event - they are like a volcano waiting to go off. Remember that many trauma reactions are due to hormone changes and changes in the way the brain records images, so having them is not a sign of emotional weakness. You do not have to live with them for ever - ask for professional help if self-help does not work.
© E Capewell, CCME, 1999, revised 2004