The Rewind Technique is a safe and effective psychological intervention designed to alleviate trauma and phobias without requiring individuals to relive distressing experiences. It combines deep relaxation and guided visualisation to help the brain reprocess traumatic memories and neutralise their emotional impact. During a session, a trained professional guides you into a state of deep relaxation while you use visualisation techniques to safely "rewind" and reprocess distressing memories. This process helps achieve significant emotional relief and is especially beneficial for those suffering from PTSD, anxiety, phobias, or other forms of emotional distress. The approach is non-invasive and often produces positive results within just one or two sessions.
One of the key benefits of this technique is its ability to help you process trauma without the need to disclose sensitive details, making it particularly useful for individuals who have experienced deeply personal or stigmatised events. The Rewind Technique also stands out for its speed and efficiency in reducing PTSD symptoms, as well as its capacity to reduce the emotional intensity of traumatic memories. By detaching from the trauma and reprocessing the memory, it helps restore a sense of control and significantly improves overall quality of life.
Trauma can overwhelm the brain’s natural processing mechanisms, leaving memories unprocessed and stuck in the nervous system. Typically, experiences are processed by the hippocampus and stored as cohesive memories, but trauma can disrupt this process, resulting in flashbacks, intrusive thoughts, and nightmares. The Rewind Technique works by mimicking the brain’s natural memory consolidation process; it shifts traumatic memories from short-term, working memory into long-term storage. This allows you to recall the experiences without the overwhelming emotions and sensations that once accompanied them.
Originally developed as the Visual/Kinaesthetic Dissociation Technique within Neuro-Linguistic Programming and later refined and renamed by Dr. David Muss, this method is now recognised internationally as an effective treatment for PTSD, anxiety, and phobias. It can be applied to a wide range of traumatic experiences—from natural disasters and accidents, to assault, abuse, and flashbacks—and is suitable even for those who have experienced secondary trauma as bystanders or emergency responders. For single-event trauma, the process may require only one or two sessions, while complex, prolonged traumas, such as those stemming from domestic violence or repeated abuse, may be addressed either individually or collectively.
Research has estimated that the technique is effective in reducing PTSD symptoms in approximately 80% of cases. A study in the Mediterranean Journal of Clinical Psychology examined its impact on intrusiveness and avoidance symptoms in survivors of violence, showing promising results. Dr. David Muss, who refined the technique, has contributed to research demonstrating its efficacy, including a seminal study in the “British Journal of Clinical Psychology”. Additionally, a qualitative study focusing on frontline staff—such as paramedics and firefighters—found that the technique effectively reduced trauma-related symptoms.
A recent randomised controlled trial published by Wright et al. (2023) has explored the effectiveness of the Rewind Technique in treating PTSD symptoms. They reported a large effect size for the Rewind Technique in treating PTSD, suggesting it may be a more time- and cost-efficient intervention compared to CBT-TF (trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy) and EMDR (eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing).
The therapeutic process emphasises creating a safe and supportive environment where you are equipped with emotional regulation strategies before beginning the trauma work. Sessions typically last about an hour, during which you not only engage in the reprocessing of traumatic memories but also begin to experience immediate relief, with further improvements unfolding over the coming days as your brain continues to integrate the new processing. The technique’s minimal distress, high effectiveness, and the confidentiality maintained throughout the process allow you to remain in control of your treatment, protecting sensitive information while facilitating healing.
The Rewind Technique is offered either as a standalone treatment—especially effective for treating specific phobias—or as part of a broader therapeutic journey. This versatile and compassionate approach aims to empower individuals by reducing needless suffering and helping clients reclaim their lives.