Trauma, Imagery and Focusing / Trauma, bildhafte Vorstellungen und Focusing / Trauma, evocación de imágenes y Focusing / Trauma, fantasie en Focusing

AbstractThis practice-oriented paper describes new work with three clients who had Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder from a recent trauma. The first client had been in a war, the second had experienced a traumatic loss, and the third had developed the disorder after undergoing a Caesarean section. With each of these clients I improvised on the spot, combining imagery with focusing. One client imagined returning to the place of the trauma and afterwards focused explicitly. This experience was different from having flashbacks. The other clients did the opposite: they moved away from the traumatic place through the first step of focusing, Clearing a Space. The clients were able to focus as if they had used the process before, and the change that each experienced was impressive. Three vignettes are given. The procedure chosen for each client is explained after the fact, along with the conditions that were needed with each.