Written by Sapna Mathews, Assistant Senior Counsellor

“How wounded memories could be holding you back from achieving your maximum”

The human brain is a masterpiece. It controls memory, thought processes, emotions, behaviors, vision, breathing, temperature, motor skills, hunger, and several other body processes. Name any one thing you can do and chances are your brain is playing a part in it.

I find the way the brain processes memories the most fascinating. Let me explain why. Say, for example, you went cycling at East Coast Park. The brain starts to store the memories of the journey with sensory information, such as sights, sounds, smells, and emotions as electrical and chemical signals in the brain. If the brain considers this memory to be significant, like if you recall it a few times to family & friends, the brain begins to transfer this information from temporary storage sites to more permanent storage sites in the brain. This is called memory consolidation. Retrieval of this memory involves accessing and reconstructing stored information from the brain. It is influenced by various factors, including the context, cues, and associations linked to the memory. Say a cool breeze or the smell of a barbecue many years later, could remind you of the time you went cycling.

Now let me shift the focus to how the brain stores memories when we go through something traumatic. When something traumatic is happening, the amygdala, a little peanut shaped cluster of nuclei, gets aroused. This heightened emotional arousal can make memory consolidation of traumatic memories more vivid and enduring. This means that images of the trauma will have a retention of more vivid images, sounds, smells, and emotions associated with the traumatic event. However, the storing of the memory becomes fragmented or incomplete, which means the different elements of this memory get stored in different parts of the brain. This may show up when, for example, a victim of sexual assault is asked to narrate what happened to her to the police in order to make a police report. Critical parts of the story may be missing, which could seem like her story is not genuine.

Have you ever experienced the scenario where the same thoughts cycled around and around in your mind? Perhaps you are replaying a mistake or how someone treated you. This ruminating behavior is a way the brain is trying to reconstruct a memory. When such thoughts or memories come without warning and cause distress, they are called Intrusive thoughts. These thoughts, flashbacks, and the physiological arousal could negatively impact a person’s functioning in the day to day. It seems like the person is trapped in the trauma and, even with the best of intentions, is unable to break free.

As a Counsellor, I have seen it play out in my clients. The fear of trying to find another job after being fired. The avoidance of driving a car after being in an accident. The terror of answering the doorbell after a theft. The apprehension of falling in love and trusting your new partner after a past painful betrayal. Past trauma can very much affect present-day decisions and feelings.

So how does one break free? It all starts with feeling safe again. This could begin with a simple action like deep breathing. Or holding a weighted blanket. A crucial step could be to understand how memories get stored and what happens in your body when trauma occurs. It means being compassionate to yourself. It could also mean to support yourself with your tribe, the people who have your best interest at heart. Exercise is another effective method. Find a trauma-informed professional who could work with those memories and the associated emotions.

Is it possible to heal from trauma? The resounding answer is Yes! The brain is a masterpiece, it also knows ways to heal itself. Trauma therapy helps you understand why you react the way you do to triggers. You can learn ways to cope and manage the arousal you feel, which in turn will reduce the avoidance of people or situations that trigger the memories.

Look for any of our trauma informed therapists at EMCC to better understand trauma and ways to effectively rewrite those memories.