RSF, I understand your turmoil. Here's a trick from NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming) that I've found very useful when dealing with a bad memory. When you're confronted with an intense mental image like that, which will not go away, this will help.
When you feel the image coming on, pay close attention to it. Don't cower or try to avoid it. Get ready. When it appears, don't engage the image in its own unpleasantness (i.e., don't imagine yourself actually fighting the guy). Rather, visualize the whole image shrinking or receding into the distance extremely fast, as if you'd grabbed it and thrown it as hard as you could. While you do this, vocalize if you have to in order to accomplish the effect. Make a large sound (yell), but be sure your throat says open. Don't tighten up. The idea is to rid yourself of the harmful image without becoming a part of the emotions the image calls up.
It'll take a few repetitions of this action for the trick to take effect, and the image to lose its power. But believe me, it will. Soon it'll start looking like just a picture, without real weight to you. (You'll only have to yell a couple of times, by the way, if you have to at all - once you get the sound connected to the action, you can do the yelling in your head.) The whole thing sounds a little silly, but it does work. Give it a try and see.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
branchandroot
(no subject)
Date: 2005-02-25 02:07 am (UTC)When you feel the image coming on, pay close attention to it. Don't cower or try to avoid it. Get ready. When it appears, don't engage the image in its own unpleasantness (i.e., don't imagine yourself actually fighting the guy). Rather, visualize the whole image shrinking or receding into the distance extremely fast, as if you'd grabbed it and thrown it as hard as you could. While you do this, vocalize if you have to in order to accomplish the effect. Make a large sound (yell), but be sure your throat says open. Don't tighten up. The idea is to rid yourself of the harmful image without becoming a part of the emotions the image calls up.
It'll take a few repetitions of this action for the trick to take effect, and the image to lose its power. But believe me, it will. Soon it'll start looking like just a picture, without real weight to you. (You'll only have to yell a couple of times, by the way, if you have to at all - once you get the sound connected to the action, you can do the yelling in your head.) The whole thing sounds a little silly, but it does work. Give it a try and see.
*big hug*