Struggling with Sexual Assault Flashbacks

I agree with the user who suggested EMDR. My trauma therapist did a mix of EMDR, DBT, and talk therapy. This helped me a lot. With talk therapy, I was able to identify which part was causing me the most distress (for me, it was the feeling of losing control), which helped me to identify a lot of my psychological triggers, even those that seem unrelated. (For example, my vomit phobia got significantly worse after my assault, because of the feeling of losing control of my body.) It also helped me identify more concrete triggers, like certain smells, sounds, or people. DBT helped me to develop coping mechanisms to handle those triggers. (Traditional CBT hasn’t been helpful to me, but DBT specifically has really turned my life around as far as grounding myself and coping with overwhelming feelings.) And EMDR was great for processing things. I’m honestly unsure as to how EMDR works, but it does! If you’re specifically seeking out coping skills, DBT might be the most helpful, but personally I think the three work together really well.

Have you been able to identify triggers for the flashbacks yet? That was a really helpful first step for me. It took a lot of work to be that self-aware to recognize the trends, but it was worth it.

Honestly, two things helped me. EMDR therapy and ketamine treatments. EMDR can be done by a lot of therapists and also helped me get over phobias. I don’t know how or why it works but it does! ketamine worked even better though, and really helped me move on and be myself again.