Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, PTSD
Trauma is not a rare event unfortunately and many of us will go through one or more traumas in our lives. Post traumatic stress disorder can happen to anyone and it is not a sign of weakness.
I use Dr Muss’ Rewind Technique, RT, to help my clients. Research shows that RT is effective in over 85% of cases.
I am trained by Dr Muss and member of the IARTT (International Association for Rewind Trauma Therapy) organisation. As part of IARTT’s agreement, I treat veterans for free.
What is post traumatic stress disorder?
First 1-2 months
Many events can be shocking but our brains normally deal with them within about 1-2 months.
In this period, it is essential to talk to feel supported; to organise what happened timewise; to try to understand what happened; to learn (if there is something to learn), and to generally let the stress out. This can be with family, friends and/or trained professionals.
After 1-2 months
If someone is showing trauma symptoms after about 1-2 months, it may be post traumatic stress disorder. The trauma symptoms may not come until after several months. These symptoms show that the mind has not managed to process the event and further talking will often be much less effective. This is when other techniques such as Dr Muss’ Rewind Technique, RT, are really useful. The RT works by reconsolidating the memory so you gain control over it.
How does PTSD happen?
PTSD can happen when an event(s) isn’t stored as it should have been in the brain. Something happened that was so traumatising that your mind couldn’t process it like a normal event. Maybe because the event was too alarming, too abnormal and/or you didn’t get the right support afterwards. Therefore the brain doesn’t know how to process the event. It gets stuck instead in the emotional part of the brain.
Trying to logically deal with PTSD is very difficult because the emotional part of the brain is much stronger than the logical part.
Sometimes it’s not one event but ongoing trauma that causes PTSD. We can also get PTSD from watching or hearing about something shocking that happened.
Post traumatic stress disorder symptoms
Each person will experience PTSD in their unique way with different symptoms. The intensity can stay the same, or it can vary over time.
PTSD symptoms can be divided into:
Reliving symptoms
Re-experiencing can include: flashbacks; nightmares; intrusive thoughts that you feel you can’t control; being intensely distressed by reminders of the event; and physical symptoms of stress like sweating, trembling, nausea, racing heart, dizziness, pain.
Reactivity symptoms
Because your system is on high alert already, you may: have disrupted sleep; feel jumpy and on edge; overreact eg being irritable or aggressive; find it hard to concentrate; it takes up so much energy to dealing with it that you can feel exhausted.
Avoidance symptoms
This can include: repressing memories; your mind feeling dull; using substances to numb yourself like alcohol, drugs, food; always being busy; avoiding anything that reminds you of the trauma.
Negative thoughts and feelings
You may feel: that you’re weak because you’re not just “getting over it”; deep sadness, fear, emptiness; like you’re not safe anywhere or can’t trust people; distort what happened so you feel guilty, shame or to blame.
Post traumatic stress disorder treatment, Dr Muss’ Rewind Technique
Test for post traumatic stress disorder
I use the Impact of Event Scale, IES to test for PTSD. The IES questionnaire is one of the most widely used scales for PTSD.
Dr Muss’ Rewind Technique, RT
Dr Muss’ Rewind Technique is a process that can allow the brain to store the event(s) as a regular memory (memory reconsolidation). This leads to the PTSD symptoms disappearing or being greatly reduced. Dr Muss’ RT is a refinement of the more usual NLP Rewind.
The Rewind is a technique, not a talking therapy. It does not require the client to disclose any details of the trauma. It is done by the therapist safely guiding the client to observe, not re-live, in their imagination the event. The memory is then reorganised so the client is in control of the memory.
You will not forget the event. It will not transform into something nice - there’s a reason for why the brain refused to deal with it at first. But it will be a normal memory and not a re-lived event that’s disrupting your life. You will be able to live your life as you would like again.
Evidence of effectiveness of Dr Muss’ Rewind Technique - published research
The Rewind has been used extensively on e.g. veterans and victims of war crimes. Below is some published research:
Muss’ Rewind Treatment for Trauma, Journal of Mental Health - 87% of clients below the IES trauma threshold for PTSD after treatment.
A new technique for treating post-traumatic stress disorder, British Journal of Clinical Psychology - Nineteen members of the West Midlands Police Force were treated with the Rewind and all remained free of PTSD after a 2 year follow up.
Treating Traumatic Memories in Rowanda with the Rewind Technique, Traumatology, SagePub - 1 group session where the 21 participants showed significant improvement.
