Dr Jeremy Dean, a psychologist and author of PsyBlog, recently wrote a blog post exploring a new technique that holds promise for those experiencing disturbing emotional flashbacks. The post offers insightful ideas — particularly for those working with trauma and grief. Here’s an abstract:

A better way to deal with recurring negative memories is to focus on the context and not the emotion, according to a new study published in Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience (Denkova et al., 2014).

For example, if you were thinking about a funeral you attended, you might focus on what you were wearing or who was there, instead of how you were feeling at the time.

Professor Florin Dolcos, one of the study’s authors, thinks this approach could provide a promising alternative to other ways of regulating the emotions, like suppression and reappraisal.

To read the full post, click here.

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