Imagery Rescripting Therapies
Our therapists are trained in a number of imagery rescripting therapies to assist clients in resolving memories of childhood trauma to include physical, sexual and psychological abuse and mistaken beliefs.
IRRT is an integrative Cognitive Behavioural approach originally designed as treatment for adult survivors of childhood abuse (Smucker, Dancu, Foa & Niederee, 1995), and is recommended for clients whose trauma was enduring and where emotions such as anger, blame, grief, guilt and shame are predominant, rather than fear. With its elements of imaginal exposure, mastery imagery and cognitive restructuring, IRRT seeks to modify images during rescripting and reprocessing of a trauma, and works at the schema level,
The goals of IRRT include the reduction of physiological arousal, eliminating the re-experiencing of distressing imagery, developing more adaptive schemas and beliefs associated with the trauma or traumas as well as to increase the your self-nurturing abilities and coping skills. Since its conception IRRT has been utilised to treat many other forms of trauma as well as co-occurring disorders and is expanding its evidence base (Brewin et al, 2009). To keep it simple – in this type of therapy an individual is helped to revisit a trauma, often this may be a childhood trauma, and with guidance from the therapist in a structured and systematic way, is enabled to confront the perpetrator in their imagination and gain mastery over the situation and the memory. This therapy helps to process a trauma emotionally as well as cognitively.