[ATTENTION: This article explains a method for trauma treatment. Do not try this for yourself. Do not try this with a T who is not trained to do it. This is not a „teaching“ or self-help article. It is only meant to inform you about a basic strategy and is overly simplified.]
TRIMB® was developed by Ingrid Olbrecht (†), a german therapist who dedicated her life to helping people with complex trauma. The technique was influenced by the way tribes in central america overcome collective trauma like war or famine. TRIMB stands for
Trauma
Reprocessing with
Imagery
Motion and
Breath
It is not based on trauma confrontation like most effective trauma treatment and the impact is more often described as trauma relief or trauma detox. For TRIMB it is not necessary to re-experience memories, which makes it a valuable tool for patients who can’t reach the stability needed for a confrontation.
This method is taught and used in Germany with great success, but because it is relatively new there are no studies about the therapeutic effect yet.
I will walk you through the steps to give you an idea how it works. It is NOT enough to try this for yourself. Ask your T to reach out and learn the technique. You cannot learn trauma treatment from a blog post.
TRIMB in 4 steps
1. Identification of the feelings that are connected to a traumatic memory
2. Visualisation of the emotional connection
3. Breaking the connection
4. Bilateral head movement combined with a breathing exercise
1 Identification
Your T leads you to imagine an empty screen and then an empty frame on that screen. You will project a single picture from the traumatic memory into the frame, but first you can shrink it down to a size that makes it possible for you to stay within your window of tolerance. You will not focus on the picture, but on identifying the emotions that are connected to it. Like in EMDR you scale the intensity of your feeling (1-10).
There are usually several emotions connected to a picture, which means that you will go through steps 1-3 several times with single emotions and not work on more than 6 within one session.
2 Visualization
You will pick one emotion and visualize it as a connection between the picture and yourself. Imagery that is commonly used are ropes, pipes, wire etc but your subconscious will tell you what is right for you. Your T will lead you to examine that connection in detail.
3 Breaking the connection
You will then visualize a tool you can use to cut the connection. That can be a saw or scissors or something magical, whatever fits your imagery of the connection best. You can also ask Inner Helpers to support you. After you cut the connection you take a deep conscious breath.
You return to step 1 and sense if there is another strong emotion connected to the picture and proceed the same way. When you are done, you move on to step 4.
TRIMB setting
4 Motion and Breath
Your T will practice this part with you beforehand, so don’t worry.
You take a moment to center your head and breathe normally. You turn your head left and breath in deeply, your T will speak, naming the feelings you just worked on, sorted by intensity, beginning with the strongest. The imagery connected to this is to take back in the life energy from those feelings. You turn your head right and breathe out slowly, your T will speak again. The imagery is to breathe out all the toxic waste. You hold it a little, then you will do the separation motion. The imagery is to sweep your path in front of you with a swift left-right motion of your head. You still don’t breathe here, so make sure to start the movement in time before things get very uncomfortable. You center your head and take a deep breath and take a moment to sense yourself.
That is it. Your T will wrap it up and maybe add a tapping exercise to preserve positive feelings. It’s a little surprising, but it really doesn’t have to be more painful.
Patients report a relief from their emotional suffering and an integration of memories. The intensity of emotions about the traumatic scene goes down. While triggers will still be uncomfortable the technique creates a sense of agency that we haven’t found in other methods. People start to act differently, proactively, in the face of difficult situations where they used to freeze and dissociate.
The method can also be used to process difficult life situations in the present, reduce the impact of triggers, stop flooding and support the separation from abusers. It was specifically created for patients with developmental trauma and cPTSD but it can also be used for single trauma.
What you need for TRIMB
- a TRIMB-trained trauma therapist (!)
- willingness to work with a scene, to let go and allow change
- basic grounding skills to stop dissociation
- the safe place and containment
- basic ability to regulate emotions
- „no-contact“ with abusers firmly established
TRIMB for DID
Your whole system needs to agree to the process to avoid sabotage. One part will front and go through the steps, the other parts who are involved with a certain memory should be co-conscious and watch from the distance of their safe place. It helps to communicate inside for better information but switches should be avoided. Littles can be present but they should be supported and don’t have to look at the picture directly. You all need to stay within your window of tolerance.
It is the most gentle approach to trauma work we know, that still has a real impact on life in the present. It is one tool in the tool box and needs to be used side by side with other tools. It does not replace the inner process of personal growth and healing from developmental trauma, but it can bring relief for certain situations.
If you are interested in this method, tell your T about it. And then you will have to be patient. There is no english translation for training material yet. Your T can go to www.trimb.de and politely express an interest to be informed as soon as there is training available in english.
Back to therapy phases 2 – trauma work
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