Dr. David Spiegel

She then had a full-out seizure. She had a basilar skull fracture from fighting with this guy. It's always a terrifying, horrible thing. And she wanted initially to just remember more about what the guy looked like. And she couldn't remember much. It was getting dark. So I said, all right, here's how we're going to do this. We're going to take you back to this time.

But your body is floating in a bath. You're safe and comfortable. And whatever you see or remember, nothing is happening. Your body is now safe and comfortable. So I was reassuring her. And very often, understandably, when people remember an event like that, they start reacting physically as though it were happening.

But your body is floating in a bath. You're safe and comfortable. And whatever you see or remember, nothing is happening. Your body is now safe and comfortable. So I was reassuring her. And very often, understandably, when people remember an event like that, they start reacting physically as though it were happening.

And that's that feedback cycle of physical and mental hyperarousal that is very uncomfortable. So remind yourself at all times you're safe and comfortable, but I want you to picture him. And she said, you know, I really, it was getting dark. I really can't see much more about his face than I recall. She said, but I see something else. If he gets me upstairs, he's not just going to rape me.

And that's that feedback cycle of physical and mental hyperarousal that is very uncomfortable. So remind yourself at all times you're safe and comfortable, but I want you to picture him. And she said, you know, I really, it was getting dark. I really can't see much more about his face than I recall. She said, but I see something else. If he gets me upstairs, he's not just going to rape me.

He's going to kill me. And so you might say, well, thank you, Dr. Spiegel. You've now made her feel even worse than she did before. It was a more horrible experience than even she had imagined. And I said, well, you're looking at this on a split screen. Picture him on one side and what you see about him. On the other side, I want you to picture something else. What did you do to protect yourself?

He's going to kill me. And so you might say, well, thank you, Dr. Spiegel. You've now made her feel even worse than she did before. It was a more horrible experience than even she had imagined. And I said, well, you're looking at this on a split screen. Picture him on one side and what you see about him. On the other side, I want you to picture something else. What did you do to protect yourself?

And I have yet to meet a trauma victim that doesn't engage in some creative strategy to protect themselves. And she said, you know, he's surprised that I'm fighting that hard. He didn't think I would. And she'd been feeling very guilty that she got herself as badly injured as she was. And I said, you know, you saved your life. You know, think about what you did.

And I have yet to meet a trauma victim that doesn't engage in some creative strategy to protect themselves. And she said, you know, he's surprised that I'm fighting that hard. He didn't think I would. And she'd been feeling very guilty that she got herself as badly injured as she was. And I said, you know, you saved your life. You know, think about what you did.

You know, you just jumped and you defended yourself and you saved your life. So she came away from that on the one hand, seeing things that you might say are even more upsetting than what she was already living with, but recognizing that she had done something to save her life. And that changed her reaction to the whole event.

You know, you just jumped and you defended yourself and you saved your life. So she came away from that on the one hand, seeing things that you might say are even more upsetting than what she was already living with, but recognizing that she had done something to save her life. And that changed her reaction to the whole event.

She saw it as something that was an attribute, an aspect of herself that she hadn't recognized. And there's, I don't remember the name, but there's a Japanese custom that when some very beautiful precious vase breaks, when somebody drops it or something, when they glue it back together, they don't use glue. They use gold. And what they're saying is it will now be even more beautiful than it was.

She saw it as something that was an attribute, an aspect of herself that she hadn't recognized. And there's, I don't remember the name, but there's a Japanese custom that when some very beautiful precious vase breaks, when somebody drops it or something, when they glue it back together, they don't use glue. They use gold. And what they're saying is it will now be even more beautiful than it was.

And in a sense, it was a terrible thing, but it was also she learned something wonderful about herself. And that's so you can help people relive an event in a very controlled way and at the same time learn something that helps you cope with it a lot better.

And in a sense, it was a terrible thing, but it was also she learned something wonderful about herself. And that's so you can help people relive an event in a very controlled way and at the same time learn something that helps you cope with it a lot better.

Well, in many circumstances, Jay, it's pretty easy. There was a reporter for the Times of London who started using Reverie. She had metastatic breast cancer, and she was dealing with that very openly with her readers and talking about that. And she tried Reverie. She was having trouble sleeping. She just... couldn't stay asleep and would wake up anxious and with some discomfort.

Well, in many circumstances, Jay, it's pretty easy. There was a reporter for the Times of London who started using Reverie. She had metastatic breast cancer, and she was dealing with that very openly with her readers and talking about that. And she tried Reverie. She was having trouble sleeping. She just... couldn't stay asleep and would wake up anxious and with some discomfort.

She said after about five days, she would just listen to my mellifluous voice every night. And I used to worry that the app wouldn't be nearly as good as being in the office with me. But then I thought, if you wake up at three in the morning, you probably don't want me in your bedroom teaching you how to go back to sleep.

She said after about five days, she would just listen to my mellifluous voice every night. And I used to worry that the app wouldn't be nearly as good as being in the office with me. But then I thought, if you wake up at three in the morning, you probably don't want me in your bedroom teaching you how to go back to sleep.

but you've got me there on the app and it's interactive so I asked how are you responding and depending on what you tell the app you get a different instruction so it is as much like well with me as possible and she said I woke up one morning after about five days of this Rosamund Dean is her name she's a lovely person and a great reporter