I would love to hear others' experiences of when a therapy session triggers your early trauma. This is what happens to me: there is a specific thing
that occurs that triggers it in the therapy session. The first time it happened it was a complete shock for me. I found that after the session I was taken back to some early trauma experience, the emotions I felt were undescribably painful. This has happened to me with every therapist I've seen, though it's never as bad as it was the first time. I'd love to hear from others who have had a similar experience. Also how your T responds to it.

[DP_2017]

not really, all my triggering things happened outside therapy itself. much of it i never told him because it didn't seem important to share

[SlumberKitty]

When I get triggered during therapy, I usually dissociate. My former T knew how to deal with this and would give me some time to get back to myself. Sometimes we would talk through the dissociation, what I was seeing, what I was feeling, sometimes she would argue with me about semantics which was annoying but did make me come back, other times we would change the topic to something lighter or brighter. My T that I have now I think is starting to understand that I dissociate. So far we have just focused on breathing and focused on the chair and stuff to get me back. Hugs. Kit.

Triggered or regression?
I'm not too sure on your question.
I'll answer to what I think you're asking. So ignore if its, not that.
When we talk about something or I bring a certain unconscious topic into the room.
I begin to act out.
T puts it into time sequence gently and explains what and why I'm feeling as I am.
In the moment she becomes part of the regression and sometimes it's a few sessions before I can see what was happening and can then release myself and T from the past.

[TrailRunner14]

This happens quite often for me in session. I’ll recognize that my hands don’t look like they are mine or they will tingle or some other body reaction and let my counselor know what’s going on.

He talks me through the breathing, naming objects in the room and feeling things with my hands and describing the feeling. That will “settle” it to a degree, but I can’t say that it really brings me back.

Something that I have noticed that seems to work in grounding me there, is doing something constructive or physical with my hands.

Last week I was triggered when I got to my session. We talked about something that fueled it and I was feeling really out there. He brought out a Jenga game (the game where there’s a tower of long blocks and you take turns pulling out the blocks without knocking down the tower) and we sat on the floor and played Jenga. He had written an emotion on each of the blocks and we shared the last time we felt that emotion. It really helped me anchor myself back to me.

We’ve done a sand tray a few times and I retain the memory of that session, as apposed to some sessions when we just sit in the chairs and talk.

There’s something about doing something physical with my hands that helps to anchor/ground me and help me retain the memory of that session. Most of my memories of sessions are pretty fragmented.

Maybe something physical you could do with your hands with required thought. ?

Maybe I mean triggered and regression. Something triggers the emotion to come up, but I also regress into this kind of scared state. The worst part is the painfulness of the emotions that I feel after the session. I think infants feel emotional pain intensely, and that's what I'm re-experiencing.

Originally Posted by TrailRunner14

This happens quite often for me in session. I’ll recognize that my hands don’t look like they are mine or they will tingle or some other body reaction and let my counselor know what’s going on.

He talks me through the breathing, naming objects in the room and feeling things with my hands and describing the feeling. That will “settle” it to a degree, but I can’t say that it really brings me back.

Something that I have noticed that seems to work in grounding me there, is doing something constructive or physical with my hands.

Last week I was triggered when I got to my session. We talked about something that fueled it and I was feeling really out there. He brought out a Jenga game (the game where there’s a tower of long blocks and you take turns pulling out the blocks without knocking down the tower) and we sat on the floor and played Jenga. He had written an emotion on each of the blocks and we shared the last time we felt that emotion. It really helped me anchor myself back to me.

We’ve done a sand tray a few times and I retain the memory of that session, as apposed to some sessions when we just sit in the chairs and talk.

There’s something about doing something physical with my hands that helps to anchor/ground me and help me retain the memory of that session. Most of my memories of sessions are pretty fragmented.

Maybe something physical you could do with your hands with required thought. ?

I feel like an outlier as everyone here seems to experience something in session, but for me it happens after the session. If it doesn't happen to many people this might explain why my T's have tended not to fully understand the experience I have.

[ChickenNoodleSoup]

I've had flashbacks in session before, which sounds similar to what you describe. When I first started having them, I was at home. I told my T about it, he said it sounded like flashbacks. Often when we talk about difficult subjects I get triggered and I might have lots of memories coming up.

When in session, of course my T talks to me, he tries to help me manage my emotions and still talk about whatever is going through my head. We also do a lot of mindfulness.

When I'm back after a session and have trouble due to memories or something that therapy triggered, I can write it down for my T to read. Usually I'll also contact him earlier for a phone call or extra session, which tends to help me.

[TrailRunner14]

Originally Posted by Wild at heart

I feel like an outlier as everyone here seems to experience something in session, but for me it happens after the session. If it doesn't happen to many people this might explain why my T's have tended not to fully understand the experience I have.

There has been a few times that I was triggered or “switched” during a session and didn’t really comprehend what had happened, until after it happened. It’s like I couldn’t put the pieces together of what happened in the moment. It usually takes me a couple of days to fit the pieces back together.

That may sound weird, but I don’t think I can really explain exactly.

It’s like I was witness to what triggered me in session and a part of me came forward and was “there”. The pieces come back to “me” after the session and I try to piece them back together.

I’m babbling but I wanted to see if that, or something like that, is what you are talking about.

Originally Posted by TrailRunner14

There has been a few times that I was triggered or “switched” during a session and didn’t really comprehend what had happened, until after it happened. It’s like I couldn’t put the pieces together of what happened in the moment. It usually takes me a couple of days to fit the pieces back together.

That may sound weird, but I don’t think I can really explain exactly.

It’s like I was witness to what triggered me in session and a part of me came forward and was “there”. The pieces come back to “me” after the session and I try to piece them back together.

I’m babbling but I wanted to see if that, or something like that, is what you are talking about.

Thanks for that, I can relate to the feeling of a kind of switch going. That's happened to me twice, and like you, I didn't really comprehend what had happened.

Originally Posted by ChickenNoodleSoup

I've had flashbacks in session before, which sounds similar to what you describe. When I first started having them, I was at home. I told my T about it, he said it sounded like flashbacks. Often when we talk about difficult subjects I get triggered and I might have lots of memories coming up.

When in session, of course my T talks to me, he tries to help me manage my emotions and still talk about whatever is going through my head. We also do a lot of mindfulness.

When I'm back after a session and have trouble due to memories or something that therapy triggered, I can write it down for my T to read. Usually I'll also contact him earlier for a phone call or extra session, which tends to help me.

Do you find it affects your relationship with him? Are the flashbacks associated with any feelings or fears about your T?

[ChickenNoodleSoup]

Originally Posted by Wild at heart

Do you find it affects your relationship with him? Are the flashbacks associated with any feelings or fears about your T?

When I have them in session, usually I don't mix up the present and the past. So I still know my T is my T and I find it calming to have him around. He usually talks to me in a soft voice, asks me whether I'm having a flashback and if I want to we can discuss what I'm experiencing. I'm not usually scared of my T during them, or angry at him or something like that. I do find that I have some more general fears that come from trauma which I do reenact with my T, for example I've had a bunch of abandonment trauma in my childhood and with my T I'm constantly scared he might leave. But if anything you could say those things are emotional flashbacks. I don't experience the more classical flashback symptoms like visuals during these times.

It really helps me to have somebody to share the experience with, so if anything I'd say my relationship with my T is stronger due to it. I've also found that when I have difficulties with flashbacks at home, often I'll hear my T's voice instructing me on how to calm down during them like he would in a session. I find that really helps me.

[TrailRunner14]

CNS, your t sounds a lot like my counselor. It’s great to have that safe place and direction!

[MoxieDoxie]

I go into freeze response. I jut stop communicating, moving, I stare a lot, i get a slight headache/pressure above my right eye, I feel heavy, I feel as if I can just lay down and never move again. This is when he starts throwing a tennis ball at me. This just happened yesterday and has not happened in a while. When I come out of it I am cold, shakey but sweating and then exhausted and foggy for hours after.

I did reflect on it because there seemed no damn reason for that to even happen. I think I understand the trigger on this one.....maybe. I did email him with my thoughts on why it happened.

Originally Posted by ChickenNoodleSoup

When I have them in session, usually I don't mix up the present and the past. So I still know my T is my T and I find it calming to have him around. He usually talks to me in a soft voice, asks me whether I'm having a flashback and if I want to we can discuss what I'm experiencing. I'm not usually scared of my T during them, or angry at him or something like that. I do find that I have some more general fears that come from trauma which I do reenact with my T, for example I've had a bunch of abandonment trauma in my childhood and with my T I'm constantly scared he might leave. But if anything you could say those things are emotional flashbacks. I don't experience the more classical flashback symptoms like visuals during these times.

It really helps me to have somebody to share the experience with, so if anything I'd say my relationship with my T is stronger due to it. I've also found that when I have difficulties with flashbacks at home, often I'll hear my T's voice instructing me on how to calm down during them like he would in a session. I find that really helps me.

Thanks for sharing, helps me to understand my experience - which is more like an emotional flashback, and even though I 'know' that she is a kind person with good intentions, since the trigger, I can't make myself not afraid of her, and this being afraid has a physical component. It could be called negative transference. I wish I could shake it off.

Shaking it off won't help in long run. Go into it. Let it consume you. They way it gets understood.