Flashbacks
A sight, sound, smell, sensation or situation may make part of the experience feel present again rather than safely in the past.
PTSD and trauma therapy in Brighton and online
Trauma can make the past feel as though it is still happening.
Post-traumatic stress disorder can develop after an overwhelming, frightening or life-threatening experience. Flashbacks, nightmares, hypervigilance, avoidance and emotional numbness are not signs of weakness. They are signs that the brain’s threat system has not yet recognised that the danger is over.
Trauma-focused therapy can help memories feel more like memories, reduce the sense of present threat and support you in reconnecting with ordinary life.
Common experiences
Trauma can affect memory, safety, identity and connection.
Symptoms vary depending on what happened, when it happened and what support was available afterwards. The following experiences are common, but not everyone has all of them.
Nightmares and disturbed sleep
You may relive aspects of the trauma in dreams, wake in panic or avoid sleep because it feels unsafe.
Hypervigilance
You may constantly scan people, places and sounds for danger, finding it difficult to relax or lower your guard.
Avoidance
Places, conversations, people, activities or emotions connected with the trauma may be avoided to prevent distress.
Emotional numbing
You may feel detached, empty or unable to experience closeness, pleasure, sadness or affection in the way you once did.
Anger and irritability
The threat system may remain highly activated, leading to a short fuse, conflict, frustration or sudden bursts of anger.
Guilt, shame or self-blame
You may blame yourself for what happened, what you did or did not do, or how you responded under extreme stress.
Feeling permanently changed
The world may feel unsafe, other people may feel untrustworthy and the future may appear limited or disconnected from who you were.
The PTSD cycle
The memory is treated as a current threat rather than a past event.
Traumatic memories are often stored in a fragmented, sensory and emotionally intense form. A reminder may activate the same alarm response that was needed during the original event.
Avoidance, emotional suppression and safety behaviours reduce distress temporarily, but they prevent the memory and current situation from being processed differently.
Therapy helps the brain recognise that the event happened then, while you are here now.
Mind, body and behaviour
PTSD affects more than memory.
It can influence sleep, concentration, relationships, physical arousal, emotional regulation and the ability to feel safe in everyday life.
Re-experiencing
- Flashbacks
- Nightmares
- Intrusive memories
- Intense emotional reactions
- Physical reactions to reminders
- Feeling the event is happening again
Hyperarousal
- Hypervigilance
- Startle response
- Irritability or anger
- Sleep problems
- Poor concentration
- Feeling unable to relax
Avoidance and emotional changes
- Avoiding reminders
- Emotional numbness
- Detachment from others
- Loss of interest
- Guilt or shame
- Negative beliefs about self or the world
Complex PTSD
Repeated or prolonged trauma can affect the whole sense of self.
Complex PTSD may develop after repeated, prolonged or interpersonal trauma, particularly where escape was difficult or the trauma occurred within important relationships.
PTSD symptoms
Complex PTSD can include flashbacks, nightmares, hypervigilance, avoidance and a persistent sense of threat, just as PTSD can.
Additional difficulties
You may also struggle with emotional regulation, chronic shame, negative self-beliefs, relationship difficulties, trust and a sense of identity.
How therapy can help
Helping the memory become part of the past.
NICE recommends trauma-focused psychological treatments for adults with PTSD, including trauma-focused CBT approaches and EMDR. Treatment should be tailored to your symptoms, history, safety and readiness.
Understand the trauma response
Learning how memory, threat, avoidance and safety behaviours interact can reduce confusion and self-blame.
Build stability and grounding
You can develop practical methods for managing intense arousal, dissociation, sleep problems and triggers.
Process traumatic memories
Trauma-focused work helps the memory become less fragmented, vivid and emotionally immediate.
Work with guilt and shame
Therapy can examine self-blame, hindsight and beliefs formed under extreme threat, coercion or limited choice.
Reduce avoidance gradually
You can begin reconnecting safely with places, activities, relationships and emotions that trauma has restricted.
Rebuild ordinary life
The aim is not simply fewer symptoms, but greater safety, connection, confidence and freedom in the present.
Urgent support:
this page is not a crisis service. If you are in immediate danger, at
risk of harming yourself or unable to stay safe, call 999 or go to
A&E. You can also contact NHS 111 for urgent mental health support
and use the mental health option where available.
Free support
Resources for understanding trauma and PTSD.
The Resources page includes PTSD self-help information, grounding material and practical CBT worksheets.
PTSD self-help guides
Read practical information about trauma memories, triggers, avoidance, arousal and recovery.
Grounding and stabilisation
Explore practical tools for returning attention to the present when memories or dissociation become overwhelming.
Talk to Kim
Discuss your symptoms, what support you have received and whether trauma-focused CBT may be appropriate.
Free telephone consultation
The trauma happened then. Your life is happening now.
Contact me for a free initial conversation. We can discuss what you are experiencing, what support you need and whether trauma-focused CBT may be suitable.