How can I update trauma memories when the worst did happen?
Understanding the very personal meanings of trauma memories, and trying to update any misappraisals, can help ameliorate strong negative...
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murrayptsd
- May 26
- 3 min
How should I do a site visit with my client when working remotely?
Site visits are a core procedure in cognitive therapy for PTSD (CT-PTSD) but they are under-used by therapists for a variety of reasons....
96 views
murrayptsd
- May 12
- 5 min
How can I do physical updates if the trauma involved sexual violence?
As ever, when we update hotspots in a trauma memory, our focus is on what they mean to the client, and our updates follow that. Meanings...
357 views
murrayptsd
- Apr 27
- 5 min
How do I do reliving or written narratives via an interpreter?
Imaginal reliving is often a bit simpler than written narratives when we are working via an interpreter. Here, we set up reliving in the...
118 views
murrayptsd
- Apr 5
- 4 min
Can I use trauma-focused treatment if a trauma doesn’t meet criterion A of the PTSD diagnosis?
In DSM-5, criterion A of the PTSD diagnostic criteria specifies what kinds of events constitute a traumatic stressor. This is because...
536 views
murrayptsd
- Mar 29
- 7 min
My client shows no emotion during reliving – what should I do?
We all differ in how we express emotion, often influenced by our upbringing and culture. In therapy, the way in which our client...
793 views
murrayptsd
- Mar 15
- 8 min
Q&A blog by a person with lived experience of Adverse Childhood Experiences
For this week's blog, we have something different. Michael Davitt, who has lived experience of childhood trauma, answered our questions...
235 views
murrayptsd
- Mar 3
- 4 min
My client believes they should forgive their abuser. Should I encourage them to?
The client in question has religious beliefs which value forgiveness and has been advised by a faith leader that she should try to...
209 views
murrayptsd
- Feb 21
- 1 min
My client isn’t having nightmares or flashbacks – do they have PTSD?
Nightmares and flashbacks are often two of the easiest to spot symptoms of PTSD. However, in DSM-5, to meet criterion B (the...
514 views
murrayptsd
- Jan 25
- 6 min
What is ‘moral injury’ and how do I work with it?
Usually, moral injury is defined as the profound psychological distress that can arise after perpetrating, failing to prevent, or...
234 views
murrayptsd
- Jan 18
- 5 min
Should I do imaginal reliving or narrative writing when working on my client’s trauma memories?
Our thinking on this topic, and that of the OxCADAT team run by Anke Ehlers and David Clark, has evolved over the years. Imaginal...
433 views
murrayptsd
- Jan 11
- 4 min
My client has panic attacks as well as PTSD. What should I do?
Lots of people with PTSD also experience panic attacks. If they only have panic attacks in response to trauma reminders or when the...
679 views
murrayptsd
- Jan 3
- 4 min
How do I address thoughts of being “a loser” that stop my client from using treatment techniques?
The therapist who suggested this FAQ told us how thoughts like “I’m a loser/weak for needing these techniques” were preventing their...
300 views
murrayptsd
- Dec 20, 2022
- 4 min
How do I protect against vicarious traumatisation when working from home?
The COVID pandemic led many of us to start offering PTSD therapy online from our homes. For many of us, this arrangement has continued at...
110 views
murrayptsd
- Dec 13, 2022
- 5 min
Should we teach our clients grounding techniques for them to use during reliving?
In short – sometimes! It really depends on whether an individual client is dissociating when they access the trauma memory. If they have...
386 views
sharifelleithy
- Oct 25, 2022
- 4 min
My client became sexually aroused when reliving abuse memories in session – how should I respond?
When reliving distressing and aversive traumatic memories in therapy, it is entirely normal for people to experience strong physiological...
6,331 views
sharifelleithy
- Oct 11, 2022
- 6 min
How do I help my client reduce their PTSD hypervigilance?
Feeling on edge, being extra-aware and looking out for potential dangers is a core symptom of PTSD. People who have been traumatised are...
505 views
sharifelleithy
- Oct 4, 2022
- 5 min
My client froze during their trauma and feels really ashamed of this. How do I help?
Freezing during a trauma is a common reaction – up to 70% of survivors report feeling frozen during a sexual assault, for example. Often...
196 views
murrayptsd
- Sep 27, 2022
- 4 min
My client’s trauma memories are from early childhood and are unclear. How do I use reliving?
Memories formed very early in life are often unclear or fragmentary, not least because our autobiographical memory system is still...
532 views
murrayptsd
- Sep 20, 2022
- 3 min
As a PTSD therapist, is it okay to show my emotions in sessions?
Therapist are people, not robots. Especially when working with PTSD, we hear some very distressing things and it is a normal, human...
418 views
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