Traumatic Birth Recovery (TBR) 3-Step Rewind Practitioner and Birth Reflections Service

I am a TBR 3-Step Rewind Practitioner trained at the Traumatic Birth Recovery College of Perinatal Emotional Health. This technique enables people who have encountered a trauma around pregnancy, birth or the initial postnatal period (the perinatal period) to release the strong feelings that accompany that memory.

So, a bit of background first…

What is TBR 3-step Rewind?

It is a safe, gentle process based on hypnotherapy and neurolinguistic programming techniques. When trauma has occurred, the body is sent into a fight, flight or freeze mode to enable us to defend against that threat. However, if the memory of that event is constantly remembered, or retriggered, the symptoms can continue even when the threat has passed.

Some of the symptoms you might be experiencing could include

· Flashbacks

· Nightmares and sleep problems

· Hypervigilance

· Anxiety

· Reluctance to have another baby

· Numbness

· Not bonding with your baby

During the TBR 3-Step Rewind, in a state of deep relaxation, the brain can file that memory away in the long-term store and whilst the memory of the event is still there, it is not weighed down with feelings of fear, anxiety or upset.

Who is suitable for this technique?

Anyone who has endured a perinatal trauma – this could be from birth, miscarriage, baby loss, fertility or breastfeeding problem, and is experiencing symptoms that are impacting their daily life.

It is not suitable for anyone with a history of complex mental health issues or anyone who has complex past traumas. It is not just for women- Dads and partners can become traumatised from watching a difficult birth or something that happened around birth.

Birth Reflections Service

Following on from a difficult birth or perinatal event, you may find that you are struggling with unhelpful emotions and ways of responding. You may feel unheard and unsupported.

This trauma-informed birth reflections session takes 90 minutes and will give you a safe space to be heard, and validated and to reflect on how what happened is impacting your day-to-day life.

We go at your pace, so you feel safe, acknowledged and in control. This session can be immensely healing.

In a safe space, you’ll have the time for your story to be listened to with compassion, kindness and empathy.

You’ll be able to consider your future goal state- how you would like to be without those unhelpful ways of responding, feeling, and thinking in place. The focus is to be confident and resilient so that you no longer feel like you are owned by what happened enabling you to enjoy your life as a new parent.

The session finishes with a guided relaxation which is tailored to you.

As well as being a trained breastfeeding counsellor, I work as a senior support worker based within the postnatal ward and in the perinatal mental health team at Dorset County Hospital.

If you would like to make a start to feeling more positive about the future and lifting the weight of heavy feelings associated with a difficult memory, please get in touch.