Do you or a loved one experience flashbacks?
Most of us understand flashbacks as being a memory w/images & pictures. It is important to understand that flashbacks are any one, or up to all, of the following emotional content coming up in a distressing way.
Body Memories (body sensations)
Sudden emotions or feelings
Racing, paranoid, or obsessive thinking
Images, pictures, or symbols
Nightmares or dream like states
Sudden somatic experiences: pain, loss of sight, paralysis, fainting, seizures, etc
Inner Avoidance w/ Flashbacks
What inner phobia (avoidance) looks & feels like
Many people who have endured multiple and prolonged trauma, and/or attachment disruption develop a phobia to their inner experience
Dissociation maintains the phobia and, vice versa, the phobia maintains the dissociation
There is a serious avoidance of inner experiences that hinders living fully
Phobia is geared toward avoiding intense feelings such as: terror, shame, grief, despair, rage, loneliness and/or disgust
Some examples include:
Shame of rage or “being bad”; Intense fear of expressing rage
Disgust for having these emotions or experiences
Fear of being too needy, weak or dependent
Fear and shame of inner voices & inner experiences
Avoidance can be conscious or unconscious
Phobia pushes the need to escape, which strengthens the inability to tolerate
This process severely hinders healing & flashbacks persist
“What we resist, persists” Carl Jung
Overcoming Inner Experience Phobia
Yes, it is possible! And it is healing!
Gently build tolerance to distressing feelings, thoughts, and sensations
Learn to set healthy boundaries in relationships
Develop self-compassion towards self and all parts
Learn to work and collaborate with your parts
Slowly take in understanding and awareness of where inner experiences came from
Learn to own, in a helpful way, your life experiences and life story
Practice non judgment toward your inner experience
