How to Stop Seeing Awful Images in Your Head After Trauma
- Brittani Antunes, MC, LPC
- Jul 24
- 4 min read
Updated: 4 days ago
If you’ve seen something awful, snapshots of it can seem permanently seared in your mind. This does not have to be forever. There are ways to stop those images from following you around.
Not only did you have to see what you saw, but not being able to get those intrusive images out of your head afterwards can feel immobilizing. Wouldn’t it be nice if time alone would take its course and fade those images away? Unfortunately, sometimes, it doesn’t work out that way.
Not only do these memories pop up uninvited- the emotions and physical reactions that come with them show up too. Ugh. I don’t know about you, but this can feel frustrating, scary, upsetting, untimely, and inconvenient.
Some people refer to these experiences as a flashback, others don’t feel like that describes it quite right. Either way, if there are things that you would love to get out of your head or ‘unsee’ then luckily there is a method that can help with that. Let’s do a mini-dive into our brain to understand what exactly is going on here.
A little about How our Memories Work
When we Think About it:
It turns out that each time we think about a memory it gets re-filed away slightly different. The change may be a minor detail, the feel of it, shift in perspective, increased fear, a different focal point, etc.
Various things can impact these changes- such as how we’re feeling at the time we thought about it, what we were thinking about just prior to it, as well as what we do, think, and feel just after recalling it.
Why Stuck Images Feel so Intense:
Over time, memories tend to consolidate into certain snapshots or ‘chapters’ that represent the surrounding details from that scene. For example, if you witnessed a fatal car accident years ago, when you recall that day, you may have vivid memories of portions of the scene that capture the essence of the other details that have since lost clarity with time. Those images that remain could represent the worst parts, the parts that hold the strongest emotions, or areas that are more ‘stuck’ and unprocessed than others. If let’s say, you witnessed something terrible more recently (especially within the past 3 months) your brain likely hasn’t had time to do much consolidating and recalling that day transports you to a flood of images and details.
This means that, images that linger around may feel even more intense because it’s not only capturing that specific moment but other aspects of the event as well.
What This Means For You:
We can use these understandings to our advantage and choose to ‘re-file’ images/memories in certain ways that reduce the emotions attached to them, reduce the clarity of them, and keep them from popping up uninvited. There are even techniques that we can use to ‘muddy up’ the images to the point that even intentionally recalling them would be difficult.
Therapy Techniques to Stop the Intrusive Images (or Flashbacks)
There are a couple different highly effective and quick techniques that we can use. Some methods are really good at erasing specific snapshot/flashback images while others are helpful at working with an entire memory.
EMDR-Based, Memory Overload Method:
Best for when you have specific images that you want to unsee.
There is concept called ‘dual focus’ or ‘dual-attention stimuli’ which essentially says that if we have our brains partially focus on the image while also concentrating on being in the present moment and using distraction methods, our mind will get ‘overloaded’. This overload actually involves very little contact with the image and the process can even be a little silly (believe it or not). It’s not an overwhelming or uncomfortable type of overload. By doing this, the mind can only hold onto and re-file so many details and feelings associated with the images while it’s trying to focus on so many other things and know that it’s in the present at the same time. This results in the image feeling more ‘distant’, often more blurry, less in quality, and less distressing.
How This Looks
In Session:
It’s definitely a process that makes more sense once you’ve been through it- I totally understand wanting to get an idea of what the heck this process looks like.
So, in summary- while you’re in a calm state of mind, I’d have you intentionally recall an image for like a split second, and then keep your mind busy thinking of other totally unrelated, pleasant things, while at the same time guiding you through various types of back-and-forth motions (Bilateral Stimulation) which activates your brain to ‘re-process’ memories. The image becomes less and less and less intense.
Accelerated Resolution Therapy (ART) Method:
Best for when you want to unsee an entire memory from start to finish, traumatic or not.
This type of therapy is also typically quite quick and it doesn't require you to talk about the memory/event aloud. Everything takes place in your head and during the session it should be the last time it feels that crappy to think about it. The motto of it is "Keep the Knowledge, Lose the Pain." It not only muddies up the memory (if you want to) but is verrry helpful in taking the emotional intensity out of it, leave it feeling neutral.
How This Looks In Session:
We spend a session or two getting set up with coping skills, understanding the process, etc. and then we do the 'reprocessing' of the memory, the 're-filing'. This part involves eye-movements (Bilateral Stimulation) while briefly recalling aspects of the memory, and about every minute, we ground, and soothe body sensations that arise along the way. It’s a very effective process- I have so much more about the process here. and here.
If you’re at the point that you would like a professional to step in and help out, I’d love to do that. I’d love to help get those images and memories out of your mind.
Ready to unsee some things?
Let's do this, I'll guide you the whole way.
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