Constant Body Memory

Our 3 year old alter has been having the same horrible flashback every night for a week now. To put it simply without describing anything very triggering it involves a lot of gagging. Because of this we have had a constant sore throat and haven't been sleeping very well either. I have tried to comfort him and distract him with blocks and coloring and other various things.
I don't know how to stop these flashbacks for him/us. I thought originally that it had to play out the whole flashback and then it would stop so instead of trying to bring him back in the middle of the flashback I tried to let him replay the whole thing but it hasn't helped. Does anyone have any ideas on how to stop this? We are at a loss and very tired.
We start therapy again in two weeks with a new therapist in Florida but right now we are in transition/moving/waiting.
Help!!
Poor baby Enzo has suffered enough and... the rest of us are exhausted.
Shilo

Therapy for adults involves fully experiencing the flashbacks in an observing state of mind, and talking about it. This process gradually shifts the experience from reliving into remembering. Small children lack words to even begin to tell what happened or what it means to them, but what helps them most is to be comforted and assured the abuse is not happening now, they are safe now, and what happened was not their fault. You as an adult in the system must take on the role of a nurturing parent to this child alter.

The Kauffman Best Practices Project Final Report, published in 2004, rates three intervention protocols as "Best Practices" in the field of child abuse treatment:

1. Trauma Focused-Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT)
2. Abuse Focused-Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (AF-CBT)
3. Parent Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT)

The report is available from the Chadwick Center for Children & Families: http://www.chadwickcenter.org/Documents ... ochure.pdf

I have not read Trauma Through A Child’s Eyes by Peter Levine and Maggie Kline, but I will. The reviews on Amazon.com are very favorable, especially about how the book gives parents and therapists deep insights into how young children experience trauma and what they need to heal.

See also Dr. Levine's website http://traumahealing.com

I have much the same problem, but with more than one little one.

I understand now that consoling them is good.

But... do we let them finish the entire event or try and stop it?

I will take a look at the links and check into that book as well.

tylas wrote:But... do we let them finish the entire event or try and stop it?

That depends on how stressful the experience is in the present. Too stressful, and the reliving itself becomes a source of new trauma. This is called kindling. One goal of competent therapy is to modulate the stress, to get the client through it without overwhelming the client.

I myself feel no stress at all and have no feelings about any of it. I also have no memory of any of it. It happens at home with family.

At the therapists they are more interactive and although afraid of her being there still they allow her to talk to them. She seems to want them calmed down. They are rather unnerving for others, but not for me.

tylas wrote:I myself feel no stress at all and have no feelings about any of it.

Tylas, by "client" I meant the child alter who carries the trauma. The alter, not the host, is the one who needs the therapeutic intervention.

Oh! I see.

Another related question.....

My Therapist had me doing Inner Child work before my diagnosis of DD-NOS. Does it still help? She had me read Bradshaw's Homecoming and the book had me make tapes to listen to. First there were various reactions and the body movements. Then it was all happy reactions and now (last 3 times I listened including today) sad or mad reactions and body movements. I have no clue if its the same alter or different ones.

This might sound really dumb.... but

If it works... how? I can see if there are no alters, but it now seems confusing.

Try getting some dolls/puppets and letting your child alter 'play' through the trauma.
Playing with dolls is age appropriate and it will help them to process the trauma by acting
out the abuse and show you in a way that doesn't involve words.
Then, play with your alter, and help show them that they are now safe, play together.

Body memories need to be worked through... working on one myself right now. I understand how exhausting it is.
Hang in there!
And remember, don't rush yourself on anything.

tylas wrote:I can see if there are no alters, but it now seems confusing.

Exactly. My alter has a love obsession. Before discovering my DID I read Susan Forward's book Obsessive Love: When It Hurts Too Much to Let Go and it just didn't make sense. In particular, the part about how thoughts lead to emotions lead to behavior lead to thoughts. I was aware that for me the emotions came first. Last week I read the entire book again and now it makes sense but application is problematic. In effect, I am the (novice) therapist here, my alter is my client, and my own therapist is my supervisor. I need desperately to establish communication with my alter.