59
Triggers( trauma reminders) and flashbacks
SAID ALOUD
Triggers( trauma reminders) and flashbacks
Aim. To clarify the nature of triggers( trauma reminders) and how survivors understand their own state of mind.
PART II: THE TRAINING
Trainer. In this session, we will talk about
• Triggers, which are events, objects or situations that revive memories of trauma.
• Flashbacks, which are sudden, strong re-experiences of a past traumatic event.
We will explore how to avoid triggers, and how to regulate or control them when they appear. We will talk about how the Butterfly Woman can be calmed or awakened when trauma feelings revisit her body and mind. You too will tell this story to survivors, to show them that help is available and to give them some hope for the future. I’ ll go on.
The helper started to tell the Butterfly Woman about the health centre. She described what kind of place it was, and told her that many raped women had come there.
Inviting the Woman to stay at the health centre, the helper took some clean clothes and gave them to her.
The Woman cleaned herself and put on the clean clothes.
The Butterfly Woman was greeted by the other women and the helpers. She felt welcome. She was given a clean bed in a dormitory she shared with other women. For the first time since the horrible events, she managed to rest.
At the health centre the Butterfly Woman isolated herself, and it was obvious that she was suffering. The helper offered her a consultation and asked her about her suffering.
The Butterfly Woman said that she was doomed and destroyed. The helper asked how long she had felt that way, and she replied that it all happened after the terrible incident. She also said she had lost her family because of this. The helper asked her to say how her suffering affected her thoughts, feelings, breathing, heart and body. The Butterfly Woman replied that bad thoughts came to her mind. She thought she was a bad woman who had lost her dignity and that soon she would go mad. She even admitted that she already felt quite crazy and described chaotic feelings of shame, anger and fear. She said that her body was tense and weak at the same time. She said that she had lost all her power and she felt doomed to have this illness forever. She also believed that she was visited by evil spirits.
The helper explained that this was a very natural reaction to the very abnormal experience she had suffered. She told the Woman that all the other women at the centre could confirm this. She also invited the Woman to a group where other women discussed their reactions and tried to find ways to cope with the pain they felt.
After this talk the Butterfly Woman immediately felt a little better, less crazy and less alone. It comforted her to know that other women felt the same way that she did.