How Trauma Hijacks a Client’s Memory, with Peter Levine

In How Trauma Hijacks a Client’s Memory, Peter Levine PhD looks at 3 ways a traumatic experience can alter a person's memory.

Peter is is the developer of Somatic Experiencing, and is one of the world's leading experts on treating trauma and PTSD.

Here, he details what can happen to the hippocampus when a person is in a traumatic state. He looks at the effect trauma has on a person's short term memory, and how you can recognize this connection during a psychotherapy session.

Peter also shares how trauma can affect emotional memory as well as episodic memory. This can be vital information to add to your overall strategy for healing trauma.

You'll hear from Peter Levine as well as top experts like Bessel van der Kolk MD, Pat Ogden PhD, Marsha Linehan PhD, Dan Siegel MD, and many others.

[psolver]

This is true for me. Makes sense why I struggle socially. I've always wondered why I cant recall dates, facts etc...

[sue]

"Shutting it out - taking away the direction in our lives" omg yes. Huge.

[Greenpeppersandeggs]

I can be told the meanest thing and immediately forget it, strain to try and remember and then go back to the very person that hurt me…and yet I know this and still do it! Writing pad and leaving immediately (regardless of if I remember) has helped. Very interesting…

[syzygy]

I stayed in a bad relationship for waaay to long. Lost my carrier, and now that I'm ready to go back to work I forgot a lot a vast majority of the information I need. I feel frustrated, sad, lost, upset with myself, but above all I'm able to look past the past and see no matter what I can have a bright future ahead of me. I just don't know how now. Could therapy help me recover my lost memories for my job or do I need to go back to school and retrain?

[CB]

I have a nice day and by the time I go to bed my mind has distorted everything into a terrible day. I have conversations with people and as soon as I leave, I have created a memory of the conversation being terrible and I've embarrassed myself. I know that to be true because I accidentally recorded myself taking to work colleagues. I sounded like a perfectly pleasant person. Its when I first became aware that my memories were false. Now i don't know whats true! Just have to try and remember that. I could probably do with some EMDR at this stage of my recovery. Cptsd

[Poppy-yxjs]

I think gaslighting has something to do with why some might be confused. You have to learn to use your logical brain more when you are being traumatized by a pathological person.

[waterbabe]

This is true for me i have short term memory .

[CocoShade]

I can not retain one number for 4 seconds. Under exam stress my mind gets blank. Eg. When officers ask me number of my flat I do not remember number that I see each day for years- I do not know - number of a flat that I live in. Like shit. Who remembers childhood, right? Nobody but I do mot recall stuff that happened 3 seconds ago....