Direct Flashbacks are triggered by things in the outside world, like time and place. I tell a story about being hit by a red car at a crosswalk while crossing the street in front of the bank downtown. Everything associated with that event becomes connected to the event. What I hear, what I see, what I smell, maybe what I taste if I was eating a chili burrito just picked up at a food truck. The next time I put on the jacket I was wearing, a little voice pops up and asks… Are you sure the accident wasn’t somehow caused by the jacket? bad karma an all…? I will have anxiety triggered by my jacket, by that spot on the road in front of the bank, by the date, by the taco, by anything connected to the event. I may be at the mall walking towards the front door, and suddenly have a trigger. If I am not numbed out, and if i happen to notice the trigger, I may turn around and notice I have just walked in front of a red car.
A friend of mine invited out for a coffee. she said.. “You remember I left that bastard husband of mine back in February? Well, its July and I am falling apart. What the heck is going on?” I said, “anything bad every happen to you in July?” No. So i asked “any birthdays or anniversaries?” Her face fell, “yah, i got married on the 15th of July.” All the symptoms of Critical Incident Stress pops up. We feel like we are back when it all happened. Triggered, not by the event, but the recording. Many people struggle with December holiday season, mothers day, valentines days, Anniversaries and birthdays. I told this story to another friend of mine. He said… you know I have been divorced twice, both happened in April. I HATE APRIL.
The Role of the Consciousness in Healing Direct Flashbacks.
Triggers are recordings. They are not objects in the outside world, they are objects in the inside world. An external trigger starts the playback of a flashback. The conscious mind is like an incident commander at a fire scene, or like a ring master at a circus. Its job is much simpler and tougher than what first appears. The incident commander must be aware, set intention and communicate by listening and speaking. The incident commander does not put out the fire. If the incident commander decided to go and hook up a fire hydrant, the whole operation may be at risk because the commander is no longer paying attention. The conscious mind does not do the healing. It doesn’t know how. But it knows parts that does know how to heal, and sets the intention with will and voice, and stands back to let the part do the job, and looks for inconsistencies, communication miscues, and issues that block or interfere with the intention. In another part of this website I describe the human psyche using the metaphor of the circus. The Ring Master doesn’t know how to turn somersaults on a high wire, nor how to tame animals. The ring master may have a good sense of humour, but his/her role is not to become a clown. The Ring Master makes room for the other circus performers, coordinates and integrates those skills into a narrative. The most skilled Ring Master is a keen observer and knows how to communicate with the crowd what is going on while the performer does the work.
Direct Flashbacks and The Shift
The shift technique, using the observation powers of the consciousness, focuses on which sense is being triggered, and how the experience is happening in the here and now. I once asked a guy about the critical voice he is hearing… the flashback.. doing homework with his mom standing behind him telling him he was not trying hard enough, or implying he was stupid. The voice was coming from behind him. I once asked a guy about the flashing image he saw. Was it a movie or a photograph? As he saw it, where was it – in front – behind – to the right or left? above him? how close? Was there anything in the picture that drew his attention? The shift technique then addresses what to do with the energy invested in those images and where the energy should go. The Shift is not self talk. It is not Cognitive Behaviour Therapy. It is not a matter of willing the impact to go away. Those approaches only create a duality and focuses on pushing past the intrusion. The shift focuses on what is happening at the moment, and not focused past the moment to the future outcome. I offer training in this technique and will offer an online course on its approach.
