Being Heard Helps You Heal

Trauma-Informed Listening Session

Who is this for?

This is for you if you have had a previous traumatic birth, pregnancy or postnatal experience that you feel is still affecting you and you are really ready and keen to move on and enjoy life with your baby. It’s for you if you read about the process here and feel really enthusiastic about making the choice to do this for yourself.

Who is it not for?

This is a listening service, not a counselling service. It’s not suitable for you if your traumatic birth was very recent (within the last 2-3 months). It’s also not suitable for dealing with historic or complex trauma, for people who are grieving or for mental health issues/illness.

What happens in a trauma-informed listening session?

Before the session, you are asked about what you would want to get from the listening session and invited to ask any questions you have about what will happen. The session is 90 minutes and can either be via Zoom or in your home, whichever you prefer. In those 90 minutes, there are 40 minutes for your birth (or other perinatal experience) story 30 minutes for talking about how you feel now and with the use of solution-focused questions about how you would like to feel in future and 20 minutes for a relaxation and visualization exercise. About a week later you will be asked for a short reflection by email on how the process was for you and how you’re feeling now.

What are the aims of the session?

That you feel:

Your birth story and your feelings about your birth have been heard, understood, recognised and validated.

Supported going forward with any follow-up service or support if you need that after what happened to you.

That you understand for yourself how your traumatic birth experience is affecting your day-to-day life now and that those feelings have been heard and validated.

What it’s like to imagine how it would be to feel and act in a way that you want to in the future. What exactly it is you would like to feel and what exactly you would like to feel able to do in your future. Relaxed and happy imagining positive day-to-day experiences of life in the future.

Traumatic Birth Recovery Three-Step-Rewind

What happens in the TBR Three-Step-Rewind Appointments?

The TBR Three Step Rewind Process is three appointments. These can be in your home or over Zoom whichever works best for you. The first session is very similar to the trauma-informed listening session. This process is suitable for the same people as the trauma-informed listening session. This is a self-healing process that you’re supported through. It’s not a therapy that is done to you. Your commitment to the process is key to the benefit you will get from it.

In the first session if you want to talk about the traumatic memory that is causing you to not be able to enjoy life as much as you would like to at the moment you can. But you don’t have to for the process to be of benefit to you. Then you will be encouraged to talk through how you’re feeling now and what are the feelings and behaviours that are making your life, at the moment, not what you would want it to be.

Next, we use solution focussed questions to support you to think about how you would like to feel and behave. You begin to imagine what life would be like if you didn’t have the thoughts and feelings that are causing you so much trouble.

Once you are able to express how you would like to feel and behave we use that goal state as part of a relaxation and visualisation. This is recorded and then you spend some time over the next week or so practising that relaxation. The more you practice the more effective the process is likely to be for you.

In the second session, we go over what the rewind process is and make sure you are sure you want to go through the process. You are then guided into a relaxed state and use your imagination to watch the memory of your traumatic experience. The first time through, as if you are watching yourself watch the memory on a screen. The second time as if you are watching the memory on a screen. Then the final time as if you are part of the memory again. Each time you watch the memory through forward (from start to finish) and then watch it rewind backwards (from end to beginning). After the third time of watching and rewinding the memory, you imagine the feelings associated with the memory are etched on a CD/DVD. You then eject this from under the screen on which you imagined watching the memory and dispose of it in a way that feels good to you.

At the end of the relaxation time you watch again yourself in the goal state you created in the first session and you imagine yourself now in that positive future experience of life.

The final session is a week after the second session and is an opportunity to reflect on the changes you have felt and how you are feeling in your day-to-day life now.

What qualifies me to offer this service?

I’ve trained with TBR College of Perinatal Emotional Health I completed my training as a TBR 3 Step Rewind Practitioner in 2021 and the course “Bring Relief with your Debrief” in 2023.

Is the process any good?

I would highly recommend TBR Three Step Rewind with Sarah. Prior to the program, when I would think about my traumatic experience (usually at night) I would replay the event endlessly in my mind, cry and not be able to sleep. I am now able to think about the event without the flood of emotion and anxiety in a detached calm way. The memories feel ‘fuzzy’ rather than sharp and damaging and my general stress levels have been greatly reduced. It is not exaggerating to say that it changed my life. The whole process was gentle and calm and Sarah held space for me beautifully.

Kim

Does this sound like something you would like?

To book either of these services please email me joyfulfamiliesuk@gmail.com or message me on Facebook or Instagram @joyfulfamiliesuk

The trauma informed listening sessions are on a pay what you can basis and the TBR Three-Step-Rewind costs £100