A WAY OF PERMANENTLY STOPPING THE INVOLUNTARY RECALL OF TRAUMATIC EVENTS: THE REWIND TECHNIQUE

The Rewind Technique (RT) was developed by David Muss as a therapy to reduce PTSD symptoms. With their eyes closed, the patient is asked by the therapist to imagine to be sitting at the movies, observing themselves on the screen, as if the event had been filmed at the time. This allows emotions to be dissociated. Subsequently, once the movie has come to an end, the patient is asked to step into it. The movie is then to be rewound at considerable speed. While experiencing the rewound movie, the patient is thus associated, meaning that they see and feel the event again as the movie begins from a safe starting point. The RT does not ask the patient to reveal any details of the traumatic event to the therapist. The RT has been advocated as an effective treatment for PTSD that only takes one or a few sessions to work. Given the existing proof of concept evidence for the RT (Muss’ personal communication) we developed a project that aims to determine its efficacy in the treatment of individuals with PTSD in order to reduce their symptoms in short- (2-4 weeks) and long- (3 months) period, and to improve their quality of life. Patients are recruited at a local women’s refuge. Three times (before, 2-4 weeks after the RT, and 3 months later) the participants’ symptoms are assessed by means of: the PTSD Checklist for DSM-5, the Impact of Events Scale (IES: this instrument is specified in the RT treatment protocol) and the Clinical Outcomes in Routine Evaluation—Outcome Measure. So far, 11 women have been involved in the study. According to the clinical observations reported by Muss, the preliminary analyses showed that the RT contributed to reduce symptoms (differences of the IES scores before and after 2-4 weeks of the RT: M = -17; IES range = 0-75). With reference to the traditional trauma focused psychological therapies, the RT may be an alternative, more cost-effective and clinically effective treatment for PTSD.