Traumatic Early Recollections: Recognizing States of Reactivation and Intervention

Adlerian-based counseling typically follows a four-stage therapy model that includes building the relationship, assessment, helping the client gain insight, and reorientation. During the assessment stage in particular, counselors collect data to better understand the client's lifestyle, or "personality." One means of understanding an individual's lifestyle is through collecting his or her early recollections. This article focuses specifically on how counselors can recognize when their clients share early recollections that reactivate trauma states (i.e., flight, fight, or freeze), as well as the steps they can take to help clients deactivate.