Video 055 Rewind technique

Use this solution

When client is terrified to revisit the trauma events.  Can be used prior to using the standard EMDR protocol.  

In some cases it may resolve the trauma itself without further intervention with EMDR.

Originator:

‘Rewind Technique', was developed by Dr David Muss in the early 90's.

Video production

Matthew Davies Media Ltd, Llanidloes, Powys. www.matthewmedia.com

What this covers

Samantha is in her forties.  She came to therapy after returning from holiday in a foreign country.  There, she was hospitalised following an accident. She said she found the treatment very distressing and the staff uncaring.  Six months after getting back home, she spoke of suffering from flashbacks, pain at the site of the operation, and she said she was deeply insulted and angry at the racial prejudice she felt had been directed at her.  She realised she had to address these matters for her future wellbeing, but was terrified of revisiting the experience.

How long

10.03 minutes

Related videos

See also Video 006

Go to ‘Take-away’?

See Aide mémoire for step by step guide for using this protocol.


Take-Away Section

+ Aide Mémoire

You can copy and paste this maaterial into a Word document, edit it, and add other information you think may be helpful to you.

  1. Begin by installing a safe place.
  2. Get a SUD’s score from the client: say, “Without going near the memory, if you were to know how disturbing the memory is, what number would you give it on a scale of 0 (no disturbance) to 10 (highest you could imagine)”? After, ask the client to be sure to put the memory aside, e.g. in the next room.
  3. Then, have the client imagine a TV screen, video player and a remote control within their safe place. Holding the remote control, ask the client to float out of their body and stand to the side of themselves sitting and watching the screen. In other words, they can see themselves watching the TV screen but not see the screen itself. When they are ready, a video of their traumatic experience will be played on the screen.
  4. Ask them to nod their head when, intuitively, they know that the self-that’s watching the screen has finished watching the video of the old memory.
  5. When they are ready, get them to drift through time and space and go to the end of the video, to the end of the traumatic experience and to a time when everything has settled down. Suggest they nod their head when they notice this ‘settling down’.
  6. Now ask them to remember what it’s like to see a film that is being rewound very fast from the end to the very beginning. Suggest the client presses the remote on your count of three and rewinds the video, whizzing very fast from the end to the very beginning before anything had happened to them and to nod their head when this is finished.
  7. Now have the client watch the experience in fast-forward by asking the client to press the fast forward button on your count of three.
  8. Then ask the client to rewind the video and stop it when you say, “stop”. The video is stopped, paused and then continues backwards. If the client is nervous about this step, say, “just notice whatever your notice” after the pause, and make it a shorter rather than a longer one.
  9. Once the client is back at the beginning of the video, you may, if it seems appropriate (i.e. needed due to client distress), ask your client to drift out of the video and relax in their safe place before step 10.
  10. Repeat steps 5, 6, 7, 8, (and 9 if needed) adding variations such as:
    • Hit the pause button (twice or more during the rewind and fast forward) and notice whatever they notice before going on
    • Take the rewind and fast-forward at a slower pace
    • Have the client change the colour of the video, e.g. from colour to black and white
    • Have the client imagine a soundtrack played during the video.
  11. Repeat steps 5, 6, 7, 8 (and 9 if needed) after having the client move from observing themselves sitting in front of the screen to being in their body and seeing directly what is on the screen. Similar variations can be introduced in this phase as in 10 above.
  12. Take a SUD’s score of distress at the end of the processing phase. Carry on with processing if needed to reduce SUD’s.
  13. Usually this process is enough to significantly reduce the SUD’s level and the urge to avoid, enabling the client to tolerate the standard EMDR protocol.

+ Wrap up