Strategies for Dealing with Flashbacks

“It takes a great effort to free yourself from memory.”

Many people who experience betrayal trauma, experience flashbacks and distressing memories. Below are some strategies to help you cope with the powerful emotions that can hit you at these times:

1. Tell yourself that you are having a flashback when you begin to experience the intense, distressing symptoms. That, is give a name to what is happening. This, in itself, can help to create a sense of control rather than feeling you are out of control, and completely at the mercy of extreme, powerful emotions.

2. Remind yourself, again, that the worst is truly over. You know the truth. You have the facts. You’re in a different place today. Thus, the feelings and sensations you’re experiencing right now are memories that relate to things that happened in the past (such as discovering the truth for the first time). That…