Trauma, PTSD & Phobias

There are two kinds of bad memories. One which fade slowly, so that a year or so later the memory is no longer intrusive, and in time it goes away only to be recalled as an ordinary narrative memory about some unfortunate incident you once experienced.

Traumatic memories do not fade in the same way, and as time goes by they may become worse. These memories are usually connected with a life threatening or other serious events and are more deeply embedded in the brain as a ‘survival template’. If they are not treated they may continue to fire off strong emotional reactions at inappropriate moments and thereby cause trouble for the rest of the sufferer’s life.

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a debilitating condition that often follows a terrifying physical, life threatening, or perceived as life-threatening event. It causes the person who survived it to have persistent, frightening thoughts and memories of the ordeal.

About 25% of people exposed to a traumatic event(s) develop PTSD. This can include disturbing flashbacks, dreams and behaviours which can lead to avoidance of stimuli associated with the trauma, such as places or people.

Traumatic memories may cause any or all of the following problems: panic attacks, intrusive thoughts, nightmares, sudden irrational anger bursts, depression and other unpleasant emotional states.

Human Givens uses the ‘rewind’ technique which allows the brain to revisit the traumatic events in a dissociated way while being physically extremely calm, so that it can reinterpret the memory patterns as non-threatening.  It is the preferred method of treatment because, when properly delivered, it reliably alleviates the nightmares, panic attacks, flashbacks and intrusive memories quickly and effectively.

Extensive clinical experience shows it to be a more cost effective and successful treatment than the treatments recommended by NICE guidelines, namely EMDR and CBT, that take many sessions and are often only partially successful.

Treatment is safe, unlike critical incident debriefing for example, which research shows may increase rates of PTSD.

Treatment is non-voyeuristic and is suitable for victims of sexual assault, beating or any kind of humiliation, as the victim do not have to tell the therapist details what happened.

Treatment is fast. Often, a single session is all that is needed to effectively de-traumatise memories and flashbacks that have been occurring for years.