Experiential Techniques in the CBT Treatment of Personality Disorders

Abstract

Childhood trauma may be accompanied by biologicalchanges that are caused by the stressful events. Once the events take place, amount of inner changes happen in the child. Thought suppression, developmentalregressions, deliberate avoidance, sleep problems, exaggerated startleresponses, fears of the mundane, irritability, and hypervigilance are prominentamong these. Terr (1991) describes four characteristics related to childhoodtraumas that appeal to last for long periods of life. These are visualizedmemories of the traumatic event, trauma-specific fears, repetitive behavioralpatterns, and changed attitudes about others, life, and the future. The intendof therapist during imagery rescripting is to improve the patient memorizingthe traumatic events and expressing affective experience and then help him/herto rescript experience to less painful. Therapist helps the patient tounderstand, how symptoms connected with the events from childhood and how theyare interconnected with actual problems in life (Smucker & Neiderdee 1995). Therapeutic process can be divided into of several steps (Prasko et al 2012c, Vyskocilova & Prasko 2012b):

1. 1. formation of the therapeutic atmospheres (with feelings of security and control, acceptance, approbation, validation of any emotions);

2. 2. description of the painful memories;

3. 3. formulating the needs of the child in this situation;

4. 4. discussing 'safety person”, who could help the child;

5. 5. imagination the event rescripted with the experience of better resolution in imagination – rescripting the story;

6. 6. general calm down.

Imagery with rescripting techniques that focus onchanging unpleasant memories have also been used as main components of schematherapy programs