Yes, this happens in my therapy all of the time. I've also worried that it seems like T will think these are not 'real' because the fragments hardly ever form a coherent picture of the whole event. Almost every session, at the very least, talking about something will trigger these odd but intense states of 'terror', where I can't even explain why/how I feel that way. Then there is all the somatic stuff and strange fragments of other perceptions and sometimes images.

In theory, traumatic memories supposedly are stored more perceptually. Many of mine that come out in the re-experiencing are pre-verbal; this makes them more limited since the younger you are, the less your mind is developed--cognitively...emotionally. Those are even more fuzzy and involve less narrative. If you think about it, an infant's mind is not yet capable of thinking, processing symbols (e.g., alphabet), or even complex emotional states besides the basics of fear, terror, pleasure, etc.

I imagine that maybe things like feeling 'lonely' as an adult might feel instead, for an infant, that she's in an abyss of terror where the caregiver responsible for it's survival, as well as the rest of the world (as it's parent is the only world it knows), no longer exists. So even some memories might be states of being (terror of non-existence) rather than containing more specific somatic or emotional fragments.

So T and I can't put a narrative on everything, but there are many things that can be connected. Often it's only vague, but there are sometimes clues in my adult life I can derive from later conversations with my mother or sister or relative as an adult that add context to them.

As to why it's happening now- I think possibly because you feel safe enough with T, and that maybe now your defenses are down.

Hugs