In Rescripting Techniques we work with the traumatic memory by looking at the scene and then changing things about it in our imagination to resolve the situation and bring it to a new and better ending. It is often done in the form of a rescue mission where our present self or adult parts enter the scene and rescue the younger self or a dissociated part from being stuck in that scene.
This is usually done without using formal hypnosis. Patients can still enter a light trance-like state that helps them to act within the memory as an adult while also connecting to the young part of themselves without it feeling strange or impossible. Recent research (Wolkenstein) has shown that these changes in how we re-tell a story don’t create false memories and can even lead to more accurate details being remembered. I personally prefer rescripting techniques for especially difficult scenes because they are more gentle.
Difficulties when working with parts
When we use rescripting techniques with dissociative parts we face the difficulty that we need a certain amount of shared consciousness to be present within the same scene together. We can’t rescue a part who does not notice that we are making changes within the scene or that we are even there. Re-telling a story takes time and focus and sometimes it can be hard to keep the inner connection with a traumatized part for that long. They tend to lose focus and drift into their own little world. More than one part can be involved in a scene and they might switch around during the process so that it gets harder to follow inner events. Parts might also slip too deep into the memory and end up re-experiencing it instead of noticing a difference. We also have to be careful that the memory does not flood the parts who are supposed to be rescuers. Maintaining co-consciousness and co-regulation is no small task. Dual awareness of both the trauma scene and the world today is easily lost.
Pacing
Most therapy techniques for complex trauma have some element of pacing. The steps are broken down into tiny steps, the amount of memory that is processed gets reduced, there is some form of fractionated processing. We can use that strategy for Rescripting by combining it with grounding and reality-checking. It will cost us the trance-like state. We shouldn’t give that up lightly because it helps in most ordinary situations. Sometimes we need pacing more than we need the trance logic though.
To pace our rescripting process we take breaks after every major step and compare the trauma scene to the scene today. We might start by looking at the big picture eg the room back then. Next we look around in the therapy room and notice all the difference. We describe who was present in the trauma scene and then we look around and notice who is present today. Whenever we change something in the scene, we then take a small break to check ourselves to notice that this is really changed today. If we work with a House of Healing, we can treat injuries and then we can check ourselves today to see what happened to those injuries.They are healed. Maybe there is a scar left but we are otherwise fine. First we change something and then we notice the difference, not in the scene alone but in our current reality as well. This adds a version of discrimination of past and present to the process. The realization that something has ended can be experienced in the scene and in the present reality through the senses. It can help parts to understand that things have truly changed since the trauma scene happened and adds proof that our intervention is making a difference and that today’s reality is new.
The thing about trance logic
One of the truly tricky tasks in DID therapy is bridging the gap between past and present and convincing parts that the past is not happening anymore, one aspect of presentification. Rescripting tends to work within the trance logic that is already present within dissociated systems. In our mind, adult parts can physically enter a trauma scene that is experienced as a present reality while the body is sitting in a therapy room. Traumatized parts seem to have their own bodies and they can sense the changes done within the scene but they might fail to notice that time has passed because there is no experience of cognitive dissonance. Seeing older parts of themselves does not automatically help them realize that they are older now. Ending a trauma scene within their concept of time does not make them realize that they are safe now and that tomorrow will be safe too. They might still stick to old rules in fear of new trauma. Work within trance logic makes a whole lot of things easier and sometimes it can also limit our progress because it is part of the old solution that has now become a problem. We work with it because it increases our options. If we stay within the limits of trance logic we will never be able to confuse parts who are dead sure of the wrong things because they missed the changes in our outside life. They keep thinking that their inner reality is also the outside reality. Sometimes confusing them is necessary. We inspire orientation when we switch between the old scene and the present reality and guide them through reality-checking. We meet them in their reality, change it and then take them with us into our present reality.
When working alone
This concept can be used in self-help when we limit it to memories that are coming up naturally without being a flashback where we truly re-experience them. When a part shares something from the past we can acknowledge it, intervene within that scene, make a change and then guide them to notice that this thing is changed today. Time has passed. The past is over and something is different today. It also works as a small intervention for somatic flashbacks. Instead of just using a reality check or grounding we imagine an intervention that would have helped us with the sensation in the past scene and then we come back to the reality check to prove that the intervention worked and we are ok now. Notice the difference. You don’t attempt to guide yourself through a full-on processing session without a therapist. That is never a good idea. You can learn to take care of small moments of memory coming up. Doing this regularly will have an effect too.
I have never seen this described in any therapy books. I tend to combine helpful techniques when the situation demands something new and this has worked well for me personally. I prefer to use it with parts who cannot stay focused on imagery rescripting for very long or with fragmented parts who tend to switch within themselves. Experienced Trauma Ts who know several techniques have a tendency to blend them like this. The ‘muntant’ techniques resulting from that are not researched but they can still be useful.