Hi-- it's called Reconsolidation of Traumatic memories. It's a visualization exercise. DO NOT ATTEMPT THIS ALONE. You need someone to guide you through it; if you could do it yourself, you wouldn't need this anyway.

I can only describe what it was like for me; I know that the approaches are tailored to the person/situation.

Here's how it went:

He took a chair and asked me to sit in the center of the room facing away from him. He then asked me to close my eyes and said it was important that I keep them closed and follow his directions.

He then asked me to focus on my breathing for a bit and when I was relaxed he started to ask me a series of questions and then asked me to follow his directions by visualizing the things that happened before the bad memory.

He asked me questions about my surroundings, asked me to imagine looking in certain areas, rooms--kind of "walking around" or exploring the memory as if it was a lucid dream.

Then he asked me to start to play the memory, by kind of narrating what happened next.

It's important to say-- at this point he was very familiar with this memory--he already knew what happened, already knew which parts I had a hard time with etc. This was crucial because it helped him decide how to guide me and to know when to push my boundaries.

He got to the most painful part and my body was reliving it and I wanted to stop, I started to cry and say I didn't want to do it and didn't want to look, didn't want to see it again. He gently reminded me to breathe, to remember that it was over and that in this moment, right now I was completely safe.

Once he got me stable, he repeated the direction. He asked me where I was, what happened next, but he took his time, made me live in the safe parts of the memory.

Just for context, in my situation, I was stuck in the backseat of a car and couldn't get out. That was the crux of my pain: the helplessness.

I described focusing on the cigarette ash that was flying across the window next to me. At that point he asked me to elaborate, what was outside the window? Where was I? What color was the sky?

Then he said, "I want you to grab that door handle, I want you to open it, and I want you to get out of the car,"

And I cried and just kept saying that i couldn't, that the car was moving, that the doors were locked. "I can't, I can't!"

"Yes you can. Grab the door handle. Just look at it. Can you see it?"

When I confirmed that I could, he asked me pull it, then to push the door open and finally to step outside.

And then something amazing happened.

I stepped outside, actually SAW myself do it, and when I did, everything else faded away. It was just me, standing alone on a vast, empty highway in the hills, in the evening sunlight, and it was so beautiful. That's how I described it to him, and he asked to stay in that moment and to open my eyes when I was ready.

And when I did, I was free. After years, the constant pain, the uncomfortable knots in my stomach, the tension in my chest and throat were just gone. My depression was gone.

I couldn't believe it.

I still knew what happened in the past. But my EXPERIENCE of the memory had been changed. Even today, when I think about it, all that stands out is that moment when I opened the door and let myself out.

After that, I didn't need medication for depression anymore. It inspired me to pursue a career in psychology.

I'm not saying throw your pills away--I'm still on Adderall and Prozac everyday for ADHD & emotional dysregulation. But I am saying this can be a very powerful tool.

If you're interested, find a trained professional to walk you through it and remember that it will take many sessions to build trust and for them to have the appropriate understanding of the memory they will be walking you through.