old.
“Okay, why do you think you are that age?”
“I see myself as being pretty tall, bending over to get into the coop.” She said frowning , “Also my sister, who usually collected the eggs, got Rheumatic fever when she was 12 and so I had to go out and get them. That would have made me 14.’’
Dr. Reinhardt nodded and said, “Alright, take a deep breath and in your mind go to the beginning of the memory and let me know when you are there.”
“I’m there,” Gina said.
“Now, using the third person, like saying ‘the girl’ instead of ‘me’, I want you to go through the memory silently in your mind from beginning to end and make eye contact with me when you’re done, when you have reviewed the complete memory, I’ll want you to tell me what you remembered, OK?” Dr. Reinhardt asked.
Gina did as directed. She remembered being in the chicken coop, the sounds and smells, she remembered what she was doing: the basket, the eggs, trying not to let any of the chickens get out and she remembered bright sunshine blinding her as she bent over to leave the coop. She remembered a scream, perhaps her own, dropping the egg basket and the feeling of warm breaking eggs on her feet. She was grabbed from behind, a rough hand clasped over her mouth and she was wrestled to the ground. The next thing she remembered was being half-carried half-dragged up the mountain through thick forests. She was wrapped up somehow because she couldn’t move. Her mouth was covered so she could not yell. There was a blindfold over her eyes. She remembered hands on her, voices around her, being jostled as the people carrying her stumbled over tree limbs and underbrush. She heard them swearing and arguing with each other. She couldn’t see faces. She thought she knew the voices, but was so scared she couldn’t think straight. She did not know where they were taking her, but she knew what they would do to her … and then they were going to kill her.
That was all she remembered about the chicken coop kidnapping. They then reviewed the flashback she had in the O.R. when she had flash images of running through the woods and lots of blood. She didn’t know whose blood it was. That’s all she could remember. It filled her with fear. Gina’s biggest fear about the memory that had flashed through her mind was the fear that she had killed someone. She didn’t know why she felt that way or who she might have killed. “What if I killed someone,” she asked. “I must have done something horrible. Why else can’t I remember this stuff?”
“There are many reasons why people don’t remember their traumas,” the therapist said, “Let’s not jump to conclusions let’s just work with what you remember, Okay?”
They re peated this review several times. Until no new information emerged. Then they worked with the memory in detail, trying to put events in the order of occurrence. Finally they oriented her to the present time and ‘put the memories away’ inside her mind.
There were things about her early life that Gina remembered and other things she could not remember at all. Sometimes she had flashes of memories that erupted like a dream fragment bright and clear , but those only lasted a few moments. As soon as she tried to put the flash into words or tried to keep ahold of it, it would evaporate. She remembered little of her life before Jake moved in with them. She knew he was her tormentor, but could only recall bits and pieces of the things that he did to her. Mostly she remembered hiding and running away from him. She knew no one believed her about him and that she could not count on help from anyone. She remembered school perfectly, she loved it there and loved studying and learning. She always wanted to go even if she was sick. Staying at home was risky. Often she wondered about her relationship with her family. She wondered why she didn’t feel close to them or feel that they loved her. She got along best with her
“Okay, why do you think you are that age?”
“I see myself as being pretty tall, bending over to get into the coop.” She said frowning , “Also my sister, who usually collected the eggs, got Rheumatic fever when she was 12 and so I had to go out and get them. That would have made me 14.’’
Dr. Reinhardt nodded and said, “Alright, take a deep breath and in your mind go to the beginning of the memory and let me know when you are there.”
“I’m there,” Gina said.
“Now, using the third person, like saying ‘the girl’ instead of ‘me’, I want you to go through the memory silently in your mind from beginning to end and make eye contact with me when you’re done, when you have reviewed the complete memory, I’ll want you to tell me what you remembered, OK?” Dr. Reinhardt asked.
Gina did as directed. She remembered being in the chicken coop, the sounds and smells, she remembered what she was doing: the basket, the eggs, trying not to let any of the chickens get out and she remembered bright sunshine blinding her as she bent over to leave the coop. She remembered a scream, perhaps her own, dropping the egg basket and the feeling of warm breaking eggs on her feet. She was grabbed from behind, a rough hand clasped over her mouth and she was wrestled to the ground. The next thing she remembered was being half-carried half-dragged up the mountain through thick forests. She was wrapped up somehow because she couldn’t move. Her mouth was covered so she could not yell. There was a blindfold over her eyes. She remembered hands on her, voices around her, being jostled as the people carrying her stumbled over tree limbs and underbrush. She heard them swearing and arguing with each other. She couldn’t see faces. She thought she knew the voices, but was so scared she couldn’t think straight. She did not know where they were taking her, but she knew what they would do to her … and then they were going to kill her.
That was all she remembered about the chicken coop kidnapping. They then reviewed the flashback she had in the O.R. when she had flash images of running through the woods and lots of blood. She didn’t know whose blood it was. That’s all she could remember. It filled her with fear. Gina’s biggest fear about the memory that had flashed through her mind was the fear that she had killed someone. She didn’t know why she felt that way or who she might have killed. “What if I killed someone,” she asked. “I must have done something horrible. Why else can’t I remember this stuff?”
“There are many reasons why people don’t remember their traumas,” the therapist said, “Let’s not jump to conclusions let’s just work with what you remember, Okay?”
They re peated this review several times. Until no new information emerged. Then they worked with the memory in detail, trying to put events in the order of occurrence. Finally they oriented her to the present time and ‘put the memories away’ inside her mind.
There were things about her early life that Gina remembered and other things she could not remember at all. Sometimes she had flashes of memories that erupted like a dream fragment bright and clear , but those only lasted a few moments. As soon as she tried to put the flash into words or tried to keep ahold of it, it would evaporate. She remembered little of her life before Jake moved in with them. She knew he was her tormentor, but could only recall bits and pieces of the things that he did to her. Mostly she remembered hiding and running away from him. She knew no one believed her about him and that she could not count on help from anyone. She remembered school perfectly, she loved it there and loved studying and learning. She always wanted to go even if she was sick. Staying at home was risky. Often she wondered about her relationship with her family. She wondered why she didn’t feel close to them or feel that they loved her. She got along best with her
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