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Triggered memories
SAID ALOUD
Triggered memories
Aim . To deepen further your understanding of how trauma responses are triggered .
Trainer . We will now continue with the story . This section helps us to understand triggered memories of trauma . A trigger wakens the memory of trauma . As a spark lights a flame , a trigger wakens the trauma . In trauma work we make a lot of effort to understand and disempower triggers . As you heard , the Butterfly Woman was overwhelmed with memories from the past . Anything that reminded her of the trauma brought her memories back and revived the survival defences that were activated during the original traumatic event . Depending on the situation , she reacted by fight , flight , submission , or freeze . Her nervous system became highly active or turned off completely . Our senses become gateways through which we are reminded of traumas . When something looks like the trauma , sounds , tastes , smells , or feels like the trauma , it triggers the original physical responses and experience .
PART II : THE TRAINING
After a trauma we become especially sensitive to danger , to protect us from a recurring threat . That is appropriate when danger exists , but becomes a problem when we are safe . If a person anticipates danger at all times , her body will be over-alert . This was exactly the stressful situation of the Butterfly Woman . She felt worried and angry , caught between fight and flight . She had problems with sleeping and concentrating . Because her body was using all its energy to anticipate and escape danger , she was exhausted . Without help , she would end up in a state of collapse , her energy depleted , feeling shameful and worthless .
Trauma-memory is unlike ordinary memory . It is linked to our senses , emotions and movement , so experience of trauma memories is very alive . Mostly , trauma-memory is body-memory . This means that we experience it as reactions in the body , while the content and order of the original event may be fragmented and partly forgotten .
We will now demonstrate for you through role play how triggers affect people . It may be useful to keep this exercise in mind when you speak to a survivor who wants or needs to understand herself and her reactions .
Role Play 4 . Retelling the story and understanding triggers . ( 20 minutes .)
Form pairs and train with each other . One of you is the Helper and the other the Survivor . Sit facing each other on chairs or on the floor . The Survivor can wear a scarf indicating her role . If you are the Helper , start by saying to the Survivor that you want her to listen carefully when you tell her how trauma-reminders trigger trauma-memory in the Butterfly Woman . Before you start , look at Figure 4 on the wall to help you remember . Then tell her about the Butterfly Woman ’ s life , how something terrible happened and how trauma-reminders woke up her trauma memories . Use your own words . Remember , don ’ t give details of the trauma . Help the Survivor to understand that being triggered is a natural reaction after trauma and that she can get help to reduce the force and frequency of flashbacks .
ROLE PLAY EXERCISE
Remember to come out of your roles . If you are the Survivor , take off your scarf . Physically brush off your role and say : “ Now I ’ m not the Helper or the Survivor , I am [ me ]”.