Trauma and Phobia Therapy

---

I am qualified and insured to practice a short form of EMDR known as BLAST Therapy, and also the Rewind Technique, both of which are tried-and-tested approaches to treating PTSD and phobias

For many years, severe anxiety-based conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder or phobias were considered treatable only through long, painful exposure therapy, and in some cases, not at all. So many people live needlessly with trauma, and phobias, because they fear that if they seek help they will be forced to ‘relive’ the terror in the therapy session and talk about it at length, and that feels overwhelming, understandably so. Who would want to sign up for that?! 

Now, thankfully, we have access to a comfortable, effective treatment that can greatly reduce, and even remove, traumatic or phobic symptoms quickly.

I’m really delighted to be able to offer this safe and effective therapy to my clients now, particularly because it is a completely non-invasive, non distressing way of working with trauma. It doesn’t require the person to ‘re-live’ the terrible things that have happened to them, or even to tell me what they were, if they don’t want to. 

In fact, new research is showing that, not only is this ‘talking’ method ineffective at treating trauma, but it can actually make it worse, and ‘re-traumatise’ the brain.  because of the brain’s inability to tell the difference between what we imagine and what is really happening. (Reference here.)

That’s what makes using the Rewind technique and BLAST EMDR so powerful. It utilises the latest neuroscientific understanding of what is actually happening in the brain, and then re-programmes the brain to change the way that the traumatic memory is processed and stored. How amazing is that?!

Why am I working with trauma though? I thought you did chronic illness, I hear you ask!? 

Well, it’s simple. The chronic illness experience is traumatic. Anyone who has lived through becoming severely ill, and suffered debilitating pain and symptoms on a daily basis will tell you that that can be, in itself, traumatic. 

Not only that, but many people who become ill lose their jobs, their careers, their sense of self and their self-esteem, and as a result they can often suffer financial hardship and lose their homes. Many experience the breakdown of familial relationships and friendships, and even experience divorce, as a direct consequence of becoming ill. Many become socially isolated and feel alone. 

Anyone experiencing any one of these things would find it traumatic, but coupled with daily pain and suffering, it is even more so. That is before you add in the medical disbelief and dismissal that many people with illness face, and the often long and difficult battle to get a diagnosis and the right treatment, which often leaves them with medical PTSD and a fear of hospitals and doctors. I myself can relate to this, and I know how very difficult it is to live with the memory of these terrible experiences. 

So many people with chronic illness that I talk to are suffering the very real consequences of daily, lived trauma, and it is so very difficult to move on with your life and find a way forwards with your health, mental and physical, if you are still stuck in the grip of a hugely traumatic experience. 

That’s where my trauma therapy experience comes in. I can now comfortably and safely support people living with chronic illness to let go of their trauma and begin to move forwards with their lives. Not that they won’t remember the traumatic things that have happened to them. Obviously they will still have those memories. But they no longer need to suffer with the horrible, overwhelming feelings that those memories bring up for them. 

It’s not just helpful for people living with chronic illness though! These techniques can help anyone suffering from trauma, PTSD and phobias. And it can be done remotely, online. So, if you know of anyone who is suffering and could benefit from my help, please feel free to put them in touch with me, or get in touch! 

Research results for the Rewind Technique

Although research into the Rewind Technique is still in its infancy, one study carried out by the Human Givens Institute in the UK showed the following results:

Study size: 30 people

· 40% of clients rated rewind as extremely successful.

· 53% rated it as successful.

· 7% rated it as acceptable.

No one rated the Rewind Technique poor or as a failure.

· Prior to rewind, on average clients rated their well being as 12 out of 50.

· Seven to 10 days after treatment, the average score was 30.3 out of 50.

· Three to six months later, the average score was 32.2.

This represents an improvement of 167.4 per cent on their original ratings.

A four-year study carried out within NOVA (part of the Barnardo’s charity) showed similarly impressive results:

Study size: 47 people, 57% of whom treated with Rewind alone.

· 26 would have met the criteria for PTSD.

· After treatment none of the forty-seven people treated met the criteria for PTSD.

· There was also a significant reduction of all sub symptoms associated with PTSD, five categories had zero reports after treatment.

(Human Givens journal Volume 14, No 4- 2007)