Academic literature on the topic 'Emotional rescripting'

Background: The majority of pain sufferers experience images when in pain. The most distressing of these images (the Index image) provokes intense emotional reactions, appraisal shifts, and increases in pain. The ability of pain sufferers to rescript their Index images, and the consequences of doing so, remain to be determined. Aims: To assess the effects upon emotions, appraisals and pain experience of rescripting Index images in pain sufferers. Method: The Index images of a group of 55 pain sufferers were assessed using a voluntary image induction procedure (VIE) to obtain basal levels of pain, appraisal and emotion. Participants were than randomly allocated to one of two groups: Rescripted Image repetition or Index Image repetition. The two groups were compared on their responses to their Index and Rescripted images respectively. Results: The participants found it easy to rescript their distressing Index images. During rescripting, they reported dramatic reductions in emotion, negative appraisals, and pain. The clinically and statistically significant decrements in pain were found independent of reductions in emotion. The pain levels during rescripting were significantly below their basal levels, with 49% reporting no pain at all while viewing a rescripted image. These changes were not a function of image repetition. Conclusion: Index images of pain sufferers can be easily elicited and rescripted. Rescripting leads to remarkable reductions in emotion, cognitions and pain levels that are not attributable to image repetition. The significant reductions in pain were independent of reductions in emotion. The implications of these results for CBT approaches to pain management are considered.

Imagery rescripting (IR) is a promising treatment for a variety of disorders, but its working mechanisms remain largely unknown. To elucidate the associative and evaluative learning processes underlying IR, we exposed participants to an aversive film clip followed by an instructed fear-conditioning procedure. The acquired fear memory was subsequently manipulated by either rescripting- (IR) or exposure-based (imaginal exposure; IE) interventions and their effects were examined on subjective and psychophysiological fear responses in three successive studies. Though the interpretation of the results was challenged with respect to the employed analogue IR intervention (Exp 1) and unexpected findings in the control condition (Exp 3), the present results establish preliminary evidence for the hypothesis that IR produces differential effects on fear responding when compared to IE. For example, in line with stimulus devaluation theory, IR effectively reduced subjective distress to the conditioned stimulus (Exp 2). Also, IR resulted in decreased physiological fear responses after fear reinstatement (Exp 3). The findings advance our general understanding of the processes involved in IR and they tentatively indicate that rescripting- and exposure-based treatments may work through different mechanisms. Moreover, this line of research demonstrates the challenges encountered when working with analogue models to test mechanisms of therapeutic change.

Abstract. In clinical psychology, imagery rescripting (ImRs) is a promising intervention to target negative emotional memories after victimization experiences. The present research tested the effects of ImRs in “minor” cases of experienced injustice. After imagining being the victim of an injustice, participants ( N = 272) were randomly assigned to one of four conditions in a univariate design (treatment: active ImRs, passive ImRs; control: pleasant imagery, imagery rehearsal). Dependent variables were positive and negative affect; mediator variables were justice-related satisfaction and empowerment. Both justice-related satisfaction and empowerment increased positive and decreased negative affect, but empowerment was higher in the active than in the passive ImRs condition (while justice-related satisfaction was increased by both ImRs conditions). These results suggest that ImRs can be beneficial even in minor victimization experiences and that these beneficial effects are mediated by both empowerment and justice-related satisfaction.

Imagery rescripting (IR), an effective intervention technique, may achieve its benefits through various change mechanisms. Previous work has indicated that client–therapist physiological synchrony during IR may serve as one such mechanism. The present work explores the possibility that therapist-led vs. client-led synchrony may be differentially tied to clients’ emotional experiences in therapy. The analyses were conducted with data taken from an open trial of a brief protocol for treating test anxiety (86 IR sessions from 50 client–therapist dyads). Physiological synchrony in electrodermal activity was indexed using two cross-correlation functions per session: once for client leading and again for therapist leading (in both cases, with lags up to 10 s). The clients’ and therapists’ in-session emotions were assessed with the Profile of Mood States. Actor–partner interdependence models showed that certain client (but not therapist) in-session emotions, namely higher contentment and lower anxiety and depression, were tied to therapist-led (but not client-led) physiological synchrony. The results suggest that therapist-led synchrony (i.e., clients’ arousal tracking therapists’ earlier arousal) is tied to more positive and less negative emotional experiences for clients.

Imagery rescripting (ImRs) of socially aversive memories is a promising intervention in the treatment of Social Anxiety Disorder. Little is known about the effects of ImRs on physiological responses to the rescripted socially aversive memory, which was the focus of this study in a healthy sample. Thirty individuals performed an imagination task measuring psychophysiological responses and subjective feelings (post-hoc) related to the rescripted memory, as well as to two control memories. In a within-subject design, participants completed the imagination task before and after a control intervention, and subsequently after one session ImRs of the socially aversive memory. At one-week follow-up, lasting effects on social anxiety and subjective feelings were assessed online (N = 26). ImRs of the socially aversive memory resulted in a significant reduction in negative feelings and activity of the corrugator supercilii, as well as a significant increase in valence and positive feelings related to the socially aversive memory compared to both control memories. However, only effects for positive feelings and corrugator supercilii were significantly stronger for ImRs compared to the control intervention. Lasting effects appeared for fear of negative evaluation and subjective emotional responses to the rescripted memory. These findings give preliminary evidence for the impact of ImRs on emotional aspects of the rescripted memory, indicating that ImRs might work through changing the representation of the aversive event in memory.

Background: There is a dearth of information about imagery in pain sufferers. Aim: The aim of this study was to collect data on the characteristics, prevalence, and potency of imagery associated with pain. Method: The images of 59 pain sufferers were assessed by means of a semi-structured interview. The emotional, cognitive, behavioural, and pain-inducing properties (potency) of their index images were assessed by an image induction procedure and self-report scales of anxiety, depression and trauma symptoms. Results: The results showed a remarkably high incidence of images in pain sufferers, with 78% of participants reporting one or more repetitive images when in pain. Exposure to their most powerful/distressing image (Index image) resulted in significant increases in negative emotions, negative cognitive appraisals, and in pain levels. In a sub-group of sufferers with significant levels of trauma symptoms, the index images elicited significantly higher levels of emotion and pain increment than did those respondents in a low/no trauma group. Conclusion: It was concluded that imagery is a prevalent, often “unobserved” but potent cognition in pain sufferers. The implications for CBT approaches to chronic pain, including image rescripting, are considered.

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is characterized by a dysfunctional processing of autobiographical memories. We review the following core domains of deficit: systematic biases favoring materials of negative emotional valence; diminished access and response to positive memories; a recollection of overgeneral memories in detriment of specific autobiographical memories; and the role of ruminative processes and avoidance when dealing with autobiographical memories. Furthermore, we review evidence from functional neuroimaging studies of neural circuits activated by the recollection of autobiographical memories in both healthy and depressive individuals. Disruptions in autobiographical memories predispose and portend onset and maintenance of depression. Thus, we discuss emerging therapeutics that target memory difficulties in those with depression. We review strategies for this clinical domain, including memory specificity training, method-of-loci, memory rescripting, and real-time fMRI neurofeedback training of amygdala activity in depression. We propose that the manipulation of the reconsolidation of autobiographical memories in depression might represent a novel yet largely unexplored, domain-specific, therapeutic opportunity for depression treatment.

Abstract Introduction Studying language use in dreams and nightmares has become an increasingly used tool to understand underlying emotional and cognitive processes. Specifically, in regards to post-trauma nightmares (PTNMs), nightmare transcriptions can offer a lens to understand a survivor’s interpretation of their trauma. The current study will utilize a method of quantitative text analysis to analyze the relationship between specific psychological constructs and symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and nightmare qualities. It is hypothesized that there will be a positive correlation between words related to perceptual processes and negative emotions in nightmares and PTSD symptom and nightmare severity. There will be a negative correlation between cognitive processes and positive emotion words, and PTSD symptom and nightmare severity. Methods Fifty-three nightmares were collected from participants that were recruited from the community in a Midwestern city as part of an ongoing investigation of the effectiveness of a brief cognitive-behavioral intervention for PTNM, Exposure, Relaxation, and Rescripting Therapy (ERRT). All participants were over the age of 18, have experienced a criterion A trauma, and have nightmares at least once weekly. Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC) was utilized to analyze the nightmare transcriptions. The Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist for the DSM-5 (PCL-5) and the Trauma-related Nightmare Survey (TRNS) were used to measure symptom severity. A Pearson’s correlation analysis was used for this exploratory study. Results Words related to perceptual processes were significantly positively correlated with PTSD symptom and nightmare severity (p<.05) Neither negative nor positive emotion words were significantly related to PTSD and nightmare symptoms (p>.05). Cognitive processing words were significantly negatively correlated with PTSD and nightmare symptoms (p<.05). Conclusion The results of this study support the hypothesis that language use in nightmares reveals important information about underlying cognitive and emotional functioning. The results of this study may have an important impact on treatment considerations for those who have experienced trauma. Analyzing language use in PTNM may help to understand the etiology and maintenance of PTSD symptoms. Support Support for this study comes from the University of Tulsa Institute of Trauma, Adversity, and Injustice.

Abstract Complicated grief (CG) is characterized by lengthy, intense, and functionally impairing grief which disproportionately affects older adults. Accelerated Resolution Therapy (ART) is a brief, protocol driven, exposure/imagery rescripting therapy which uses lateral left-right eye movements. ART, unlike traditional psychotherapy, directs the person to perform two tasks simultaneously (e.g. re-experiencing the grief experience and performing eye movements), taxing limited working memory capacity. Importantly, this may force memory traces representing events, emotions, and sensations to compete for permanence, as well as reduce the vividness and emotional intensity of the original grief. Two CG case studies are presented (expected; unexpected death) with their response to ART. Stake’s instrumental case study methodology was used to identify and study cases which reflect a range of CG. Additionally, CG was measured by the Inventory of Complicated Grief (ICF). ICF’s range is 0-76 with scores > 24 indicating CG. Case 1 was a spousal caregiver with a single, expected death where helplessness, guilt, shame, and a life alone had resulted in CG (baseline ICF 33). Her ICF at 8 weeks post-ART was 10. Case 2 was an adult child caregiver with multiple (parent, sibling), unexpected deaths in quick succession where loss, guilt, anger, and helplessness had resulted in CG (baseline ICF 25). Her ICF at 8 weeks post-ART was 9. Both participants were able to process the distressing sensations that emerged during the imaginal exposure component facilitated with the use of eye movements. This suggests that ART may be a powerful new mind-body treatment for CG.

This paper provides an overview of my practice-based doctoral research: Bearing Witness: Autoethnographic Animation and the Metabolism of Trauma, which uses a multimethod approach (cognitive focus, thematic analysis of qualitative data and artistic practice), to investigate autoethnographic animation’s capacity to moderate psychological trauma. Traumatic events such as child abuse, domestic violence and military conflict often present a major health challenge for survi­vors, with many experiencing significantly impaired function due to symptoms such as nightmares, emotional dysregulation, negative cognitions and dissociative states. The symptoms most commonly reported are intrusive memories-sensory-perceptu­al impressions that involuntarily intrude into consciousness, causing distress and a sense of reexperiencing the trauma. A number of cognitive studies have measured how these intrusions may be moderated through models that either interfere with imagery, simulate trauma, or change its narrative. My research uses interviews, thematic analysis and artistic practice to inves­tigate whether animation may similarly moderate intrusions through processes that utilise the medium’s visuospatial capacities and its potential for rescripting, or changing, the trauma narrative. The desire to use personal experience as data motivated my interest in autoethnography as a methodology for qualitative inquiry. Autoethnography is a reflexive approach that explores autobiographical stories and connects these to wider socio-cultural-polit­ical issues through writing, performance and other media. In this research I am using autoethnography to both address my lived experience of trauma and to moderate its symptoms through my animation practice.

I miei studi del dottorato si fondano sul presupposto che l'esperienza del corpo non è diretta, ma è mediata dall'integrazione di input multisensoriali. Le domande che mi sono posto inizialmente sono: cos'è l'integrazione multisensoriale? Come funziona? L'integrazione multisensoriale (MSI) si riferisce a come il cervello integra in una percezione coerente e uniforme diversi flussi di informazioni in arrivo dai diversi sensi presentati nello stesso contesto spazio-temporale. Tale modello concepisce il corpo come ricalibrato in relazione a previsioni fatte attraverso tre fonti di informazioni memorizzate sul corpo: concettuali, percettive ed episodiche. Secondo una recente teoria cognitiva, il nostro cervello impara ad anticipare questi stimoli in arrivo prima che siano effettivamente percepiti. Gli psicologi cognitivi chiamano questo processo codifica predittiva. Questa ipotesi sempre più popolare nelle neuroscienze suggerisce che il nostro cervello crea attivamente un modello interno (simulazione) del corpo e dello spazio circostante. Questo modello fornisce previsioni sull'input sensoriale atteso o minimizza il numero di errori di previsione. Ho quindi ipotizzato che questo processo influenzi non solo l'esperienza del corpo, ma anche le emozioni. Secondo questo modello, le emozioni non sono viste come sequenze iterative stimolo-risposta, ma come simulazioni corporee che, sulla base di una precedente esperienza individuale, vengono etichettate come emozioni. Studi recenti indicano che alterazioni in questo processo potrebbero essere coinvolte nell'eziologia di alcuni disturbi psicologici, compresi i disturbi alimentari. Lo scopo di questo lavoro è quello di contribuire alla ricerca sulla natura della percezione del corpo come risultato di un'integrazione multisensoriale e sul suo studio clinico e sperimentale. In particolare ho esplorato nuovi metodi per colpire i principali aspetti coinvolti nell'esperienza del corpo nei disturbi alimentari. Ho sviluppato tre interventi virtuali basati su una nuova metodologia incarnata - la realtà virtuale - aprendo un nuovo modo di studiare e trattare la percezione del corpo.
My PhD research started from the assumption that the experience of the body is not direct, but is mediated by the integration of multisensory inputs. The questions i originally asked are: what is multisensory integration? How does it work? Multisensory integration refers to how the brain integrates into a coherent and uniform percept, namely the body matrix, different streams of incoming information from the different senses presented in the same space-time context. Such a model conceives the body as being recalibrated in relation to predictions made through three sources of stored information about the body: conceptual (the meaning attributed to the body), perceptual (the size and the shape of the body), and episodic. According to a recent cognitive theory, our brains learn to anticipate these incoming stimuli before they are actually perceived. Cognitive psychologists call this process predictive coding. This increasingly popular hypothesis in neuroscience suggests that our brains actively create an internal model (simulation) of the body and the space around it. This model provides predictions about the expected sensory input or minimize the number of prediction errors. I have therefore assumed that this process influences not only the experience of the body, but also the emotions. According to this model, emotions are not seen as iterative stimulus-response sequences, but as bodily simulations that, on the basis of an individual’s previous experience are labeled as emotions. Simulations are prediction (top-down signals) that anticipate events in the sensory environment. Thanks to this internal model of predictions, our brain is able to give sense to our experience. Recent studies indicate that impairments in this process could be involved in the etiology of some psychological disorders, including eating disorders. The purpose of this dissertation is to contribute to the research on the nature of body perception as the result of a multisensory integration and on its clinical and experimental study. In particular I explored new methods to target the main aspects involved in the experience of the body among eating disorders. I developed three virtual interventions based on a new embodied methodology - virtual reality – opening a new way of studying and treating body perception.