Flashbacks – involuntary recurrent memory that occurs primarily due to new triggers reminding a person of their past trauma, you can see they lose the sense of present time and connection with the world around them, are in distress – softly bring the person back to the present, ground them, check-in what is going on for them; you might need to ask them to gently shift their gaze to connect with you, ask simple questions about the surroundings or basic facts (their age, present year, day of the week), help them distinguish between past and present reality and remind them that right now they are safe.
This #IWD2022 month, we are discussing stabilisation – a process of supporting traumatised people into safety. We use stabilisation as the first stage of support for victims of domestic abuse, sexual abuse, refugees, war veterans and people who have PTSD.
