Flashbacks are a distressing re-experiencing of past events, where the individual feels as though they are reliving the situation in the present. These can be particularly disruptive and are often associated with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). While all flashbacks involve a reliving of past experience, they can vary in their manifestation. Here are some of the different types of flashbacks:
- Emotional Flashbacks: These flashbacks involve a sudden surge of intense emotion linked to a past event. The individual might not have a specific visual or sensory memory, but they will feel the overwhelming emotions such as fear, shame, anger or terror that were present during the original event. For example, someone might feel an overwhelming sense of panic without a clear memory of the event that caused it.
- Visual Flashbacks: These involve vivid visual images of the traumatic event. These images can be intrusive and feel as real as if the event is happening in the present moment. For example, a person might suddenly see an image of a car crash they were involved in.
- Sensory Flashbacks: These involve a re-experiencing of sensory aspects of the traumatic event, such as sounds, smells, touch, or tastes. These can be very disorienting. For example, the smell of smoke may trigger a flashback in someone who experienced a house fire.
- Somatic Flashbacks: These are flashbacks that manifest as physical sensations in the body, such as pain, tension, or changes in heart rate. These sensations can be linked to the physical experiences of the trauma. For example, a person might experience chest pain and shortness of breath, related to a time when they felt extreme fear.
- Cognitive Flashbacks: These involve a sudden return of thoughts or beliefs that were present during the traumatic experience. These thoughts can be irrational or negative. For example, a person might have the thought “I was to blame” that they experienced at the time of the trauma.
- Dissociative Flashbacks: These flashbacks are marked by a sense of detachment or disconnection from one’s self and the present moment. A person experiencing a dissociative flashback may feel as if they are observing the event as if in a dream or as if they are observing themselves from outside their own body.
How Havening Techniques Help with Flashbacks
Havening Therapy Techniques can be a powerful tool for addressing flashbacks, as it works by directly targeting the neurological pathways associated with traumatic memories. A havening techniques practitioner can help clients in the following ways:
- Depotentiation of Traumatic Memories: Havening can depotentiate the traumatically encoded experiences in the amygdala. This means that the emotional charge associated with the traumatic memory is reduced or removed. When a flashback occurs, it is the result of the brain replaying a traumatic event. By depotentiating this event, Havening makes it less likely that the event can cause a flashback.
- Interrupting the Flashback: Havening can disrupt the cycle of re-experiencing that is part of the flashback. The touch used in Havening, combined with distraction techniques, helps to create a sense of safety and calm, reducing the intensity of the flashback.
- Creating a Safe Place: Havening provides a safe place electrochemically for the client, which can be important for healing trauma. This is particularly important, as a safe place is necessary to heal trauma.
- Content-Free Work: A havening techniques practitioner can work with a client without the need for them to disclose the specifics of their trauma. This can be beneficial for people who struggle to speak about their experiences.
- Gentle Approach: Havening is a gentle and non-invasive approach. It does not require a client to re-experience their trauma in detail, which reduces the risk of re-traumatisation.
- Multiple Types of Havening: Different types of Havening may be used, depending on the nature of the flashback. For example, Event Havening can address specific traumatic events. Transpirational Havening can deal with chronic emotional states, which may be part of the flashback experience. Outcome Havening may help a person to change their memory of the trauma so that they can feel empowered rather than victimised.
- Self-Havening: Clients can learn self-havening techniques that they can use to manage flashbacks when they occur. This empowers them to manage their well-being independently.
- Reduces Stress: By reducing the stress associated with flashbacks, Havening also helps to lower the overall stress levels in a person, which can have a knock on effect in reducing anxiety.
Havening is a method that can gently and rapidly shift a person’s experience of their traumatic memories, and reduce the intensity and frequency of flashbacks. By altering the way that traumatic experiences are stored and processed in the brain, a havening techniques practitioner can empower individuals to regain control and to live more fully in the present.
Summary
Flashbacks are a distressing reliving of traumatic events. They can take several forms including emotional, visual, sensory, somatic, cognitive, and dissociative. Havening Techniques can help a person to manage and process their flashbacks, through depotentiating traumatic memories, interrupting the flashback cycle, and creating a feeling of safety. A havening techniques practitioner can use these techniques to address the underlying neural pathways associated with trauma. Havening can empower individuals to regain control and reduce the impact that flashbacks have on their daily lives.
Tags
Flashbacks, Havening Techniques, trauma, PTSD, emotional flashbacks, visual flashbacks, sensory flashbacks, somatic flashbacks, cognitive flashbacks, dissociative flashbacks, amygdala, depotentiation, self-havening, havening techniques practitioner.