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As a trauma therapist who helps clients to work through unresolved trauma, I see many instances of traumatic reenactment, so it's an important topic to address.
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| Traumatic Reenactment |
What is Traumatic Reenactment?
Traumatic reenactment is the unconscious tendency to recreate or repeat the circumstances of past trauma in order to gain a sense of mastery or control over of the situation.
Traumatic reenactment can involve (but is not limited to):
- Abusive relationships
- Engaging in self harm
- Repeatedly putting oneself in triggering situations
Traumatic reenactment occurs because the unconscious mind is attempting to work through and resolve the original trauma--even if this leads to further harm.
What Are Other Terms For Traumatic Reenactment?
Other terms for traumatic reenactment include:
- Repetition compulsion: This term was coined by Sigmund Freud. It refers to an unconscious drive to repeat a past event, particularly traumatic or painful events, in the hope of achieving a different outcome this time around.
- Compulsive repetition: This term emphasizes the involuntary and often irrational nature of repeating behaviors associated with trauma or past painful events.
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| Traumatic Reenactment |
- Enactments: This is a broader term that can refer to the act of re-experiencing or recreating a past traumatic event through behavior, especially in personal relationships as well as in therapy.
- Somatic reenactment: This is a term used in the context of PTSD (posttraumatic stress disorder). It refers to symptoms that physically reproduce the mental content of the traumatic event, like flashbacks or nightmares.
- Dyadic traumatic reenactment: This term refers to how trauma is reenacted between two people. This usually involves people who are in an intimate relationship. It can trap people in a cycle of negative patterns.
What Are Examples of Traumatic Reenactment?
- Abusive Relationships: Recreating familiar harmful relationship dynamics from the past including choosing partners who are abusive or neglectful (see my article: Are You Unconsciously Choosing An Abuse Relationship to Fix Your Childhood?).
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| Traumatic Reenactment |
- Risky Behaviors: Engaging in self harm or high-risk activities like substance abuse, gambling or overspending which can provide a temporary escape or a sense of mastery
- Triggering Situations: Deliberately or unconsciously seeking out people, environments or sensory triggers that remind them of the original experience
- Repetitive Life Patterns: Repeating negative life experiences that echo the original traumatic experience, even if the specific circumstances change
Why Do People Engage in Traumatic Reenactments?
- Unconscious Repetition: Traumatic memories are often stored in the body as implicit memories. Implicit memories are a collection of sensations and emotions rather than clear narratives. When a person,who has traumatic memories, feels unsafe later in life, their body can unconsciously replay the old narrative through behavior in order to seek a sense of completion.
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- An Attempt at Mastery: Traumatic reenactment can be an attempt to master and have a sense of control over a situation where the person originally felt powerless. The unconscious hope is that by recreating the situation, the person can change the outcome this time around.
- Psychological Vulnerability: Trauma can lead to psychological vulnerabilities, such as an insecure attachment style or poor coping strategies, which can make a person more susceptible to revictimization.
Why is Traumatic Reenactment Harmful?
- Cycles of Self Harm or Self Sabotage: Although it might seem like an attempt to heal, traumatic reenactment without awareness often becomes a cycle of self harm and self sabotage (see my article: Overcoming Self Sabotaging Behavior).
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- Increased Risk: Traumatic reenactment can lead to revictimization where a person is harmed again and again by abuse that is similar to the original abuse.
- Lack of Genuine Healing: True healing does not come from repeating trauma. It begins by developing an awareness of the pattern and making conscious choices to stop the pattern and engage in healthier behavior.
Clinical Examples of Traumatic Reenactment
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| Traumatic Reenactment |
- A Cycle of Emotionally Abusive Relationships: Nina grew up in an emotionally abusive household as a child. Her father was highly critical of her from the time she was a young child. Although her mother wasn't critical, she didn't intervene to stop the emotional abuse because she was intimidated by the father. As an adult, Nina unconsciously chose men who were emotionally abusive towards her. After a particularly abusive relationship and painful breakup, Nina sought help in therapy where she discovered her unconscious tendency to choose emotionally abusive men as a way to master her childhood trauma where she hoped for a different outcome in her relationships. As she worked on her traumatic childhood in trauma therapy, Nina learned how to stop repeating this pattern so she could be in healthier relationships (see my articles: Choosing Unhealthy Relationstips: Bad Luck or Poor Choices? and Learning From Past Relationships).
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- A Cycle of Overspending: John grew up in a family that was constantly on the brink of financial disaster. His father lost one job after another due to his bad temper. The mother attempted to pay the rent on her small salary, but they were constantly behind on rent payments. This lead to their being evicted several times until they had to live in an overcrowded apartment with John's aunt. As a child, John vowed to himself that he would never be in the same situation when he grew up. He studied hard and he did well in college. After he graduated college, he got a high paying job in the finance industry where he was able to support himself and help his parents. But, in an unconscious attempt to overcome his family history of poverty, he had a tendency to overspend on luxury items he didn't need. When, despite his high paying job, he was on the brink of bankruptcy, he knew he needed help so he sought help in therapy where he learned he was unconsciously repeating traumatic patterns from his childhood. Through a combination of EMDR Therapy and Parts Work Therapy, John was able to gain an better understanding of his behavior, stop overspending and heal his childhood trauma (see my article: Why is Family History Important in Psychotherapy?).
Aside from these examples, there are many other situations where people unconsciously repeat traumatic patterns from the past.
Conclusion
Traumatic reenactment is an unconscious tendency to recreate or repeat traumatic circumstances from the past in order to gain mastery over these dynamics.
Since these reenactments are unconscious, people who engage in traumatic reenactments often have no awareness or insight into their behavior so they continue to repeat these patterns. As a result, many people blame external circumstances or "bad luck" on why they keep finding themselves in certain situations. They don't realize they're recreating unresolved trauma from the past.
Awareness and a capacity for self reflection are the first steps in overcoming a pattern of traumatic reenactments.
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| Getting Help in Therapy |
The next step is finding a licensed mental health professional who has the training, skills and expertise in trauma therapy.
Trauma therapy includes:
- EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) Therapy
- AEDP (Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy)
- Parts Work Therapy (IFS and Ego States Therapy)
A skilled trauma therapist can help you to become aware and change your behavior using the tools and strategies in trauma therapy so you can lead a more fulfilling life.
About Me
I am a licensed New York psychotherapist, hypnotherapist, EMDR, AEDP, EFT (for couples), Somatic Experiencing and Certified Sex Therapist.
As a trauma therapist, I have helped many individual adults and couples to overcome trauma.
To find out more about me, visit my website: Josephine Ferraro, LCSW - NYC Psychotherapist.
To set up a consultation, call me at (917) 742-2624 during business hours or email me.
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