Rewind Technique for Trauma
- Lyanne Pudney
- Oct 25
- 1 min read
Updated: Oct 26

If the thought of telling a therapist about your traumatic experience/s is a definite no for you, perhaps the Rewind Technique for Trauma could help.
The Rewind Technique for Trauma is a way of separating the horrible feelings from a traumatic memory, so that the memory no longer triggers distress. It is quick (2-4 sessions for a single event trauma) and popular, because there is no need to discuss the incident/s with me if you prefer not to.
I use it for phobias and traumatic stress. Rewind Technique for Trauma involves imagining watching a film of the event, from beforehand, when you felt safe & calm, through to the end. Then you imagine going into the end of the film & rewinding it very quickly, in seconds.
This simple but effective technique seems to release a memory from being stuck on loop, in the area of the brain responsible for survival - where it triggers the fight, flight, freeze response, so it can move to the long-term memory storage area, filed under something like: 'unpleasant memories from the past', where it no longer causes distress when remembered.
I have used this technique successfully for trauma and phobias for many years & find it so effective that I researched it as part of my masters degree. That's not to say it's the right option for everyone, so if it's something you'd like to try, feel free to ask me about it.

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