Coping with traumatic flashbacks

A lot of the women who we support experience flashbacks.

These can be one way the body responds to trauma, where it can feel as though the danger is still present.

The Flashback Protocol by Babette Rothschild offers a practical, grounding technique that can help bring you back to the present moment.

Save this for when you might need it, or share it with someone who could find it helpful.

What is a flashback?

Flashbacks happen when current situations remind us of danger in our past and trigger vivid memories.

The brain doesn’t always recognise that the threat is a memory from the past and the body reacts as if the trauma is happening now.

Your body reactivates a defence mechanism that it developed to keep you safe when under threat, usually because the experience has not been fully processed.

What can you do if you experience a flashback?

In this guide we outline the Flashback protocol developed by Babette Rothschild (2000) - this can help to quickly stop traumatic flashbacks and bring you back to the present moment where you are safe.

Establish what you are feeling and why.

Out loud, say the following sentences filling in the blanks, following the instructions:

“Right now I am feeling ______ , (name the current emotion, usually fear) and I am sensing in my body ______ , (describe current bodily sensations in detail), because I am remembering ______ . (name the trauma by title, only — no details).

Then, remind yourself that you are not in that place anymore.

“And, at the same time , I am looking around where I am now in ______ (say the year), here ______ , (name the place where you are) and I can see ______ , (describe some of the things that you see right now , in this place), and so I know ______ , (name the trauma again) is not happening now/anymore.”