i have never tried it myself, but it sounds like a theory that has grown out of Maslow's Hiercharchy of Needs (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maslow'...archy_of_needs)? Basically, it says that you need to ensure the bottom levels of the hierarchy are stable (e.g., safety, food, physical attention etc) first before you can progress up the hierarchy towards things like self esteem. it is harder to maintain a stable sense of self esteem if, e.g., your home environment is not safe or you cannot secure stable employment.

Recent research in PTSD does suggest that it's not that useful to talk about the past in detail unless it's to provide 'corrective emotional responses'. so, e.g., i carry the core self-belief that i am a bad person partially (largely?) because i was abused growing up, whereas my sisters weren't. so i might talk about that with pdoc, and he will help me see it wasn't my fault but validate why i felt that way. but we don't go into things like "reliving" the trauma, or even describe any one event in any great detail. instead, i am dealing with a current belief ("i am bad") due to past experiences, but we are only addressing the current belief - not really dealing with the past in that whole imagery sort of way you sometimes read about.

to me it feels safe, because i dont like thinking about the past very much. i like having a set of goals i want to achieve now, and sometimes i need to mention things from the past, but they do not figure as a big part of my therapy. pdoc knows my history, but there have only been 3 sessions in the 4 years i have seen him where we have spoken about it in depth. if something flares up (e.g., recently i have been very concerned he will leave me), then he may point out that this is probably a worry based on my past experiences, but it is usually no more than a comment. we work towards me being able to trust him more and trust in my worth more also.