Context over emotion: A neuroscience-based approach to disturbing emotional flashbacks

Monday, June 3, 2024.

Could focusing on the context rather than the emotion be a breakthrough in managing recurring negative memories?

According to a recent study, this technique holds promise for those plagued by disturbing emotional flashbacks.

The study suggests concentrating on the context instead of rehashing the painful emotions of a negative memory.

For instance, when recalling a funeral, shift your focus to what you were wearing or who attended rather than dwelling on your feelings at that particular moment.

The New Perspective: Context Over Emotion

Insights from Professor Florin Dolcos

Professor Florin Dolcos, a key study author, believes this method offers a promising alternative to traditional emotion regulation strategies like suppression and reappraisal. Dolcos explains:

“Sometimes we dwell on how sad, embarrassed, or hurt we felt during an event, and that makes us feel worse and worse. This is what happens in clinical depression — ruminating on the negative aspects of a memory.

But we found that instead of thinking about your emotions during a negative memory, looking away from the worst emotions and thinking about the context, like a friend who was there, what the weather was like, or anything else non-emotional that was part of the memory, will rather effortlessly take your mind away from the unwanted emotions associated with that memory.

Once you immerse yourself in other details, your mind will wander to something else entirely, and you won’t be focused on the negative emotions as much.”

The Study and Its Findings

The researchers reached their conclusion by asking participants to recall both positive and negative memories. After a few weeks, these memories were triggered, with participants sometimes focusing on their felt emotions and other times on the context of the event.

Brain scans during recall revealed that when participants focused on the context of the event, brain regions involved in basic emotion processing worked together with emotion control regions to ultimately reduce the emotional impact of these memories.

Implications for Neuroscience-Based Therapy

This technique raises intriguing questions about how it might usher in a more neuroscience-based approach to therapy.

Could this focus on context rather than emotion help bypass the traditional narratives of "overcoming," "working through," or "desensitizing" bad memories? Might this method pave the way for more effective and less emotionally taxing therapeutic interventions?

Final thoughts

While we don’t yet know if this strategy will work in the long term — a crucial factor for those suffering from depression — it is easy to implement and unlikely to cause harm.

This low-risk, context-focused approach could offer a valuable tool for those seeking to manage negative memories without the emotional burden typically associated with them. I believe it has immediate application with neurodivergent clients.

I also appreciate how Florin’s research explores these questions. By integrating this context-focused strategy into therapeutic practices, we may discover new, effective ways to help folks cope and eventually move past their most troubling memories.

By the way, this is why high-level therapists spend a respectable amount of time reading research. This approach carries well into the therapy room, and is another tool therapists can offer suffering clients.

Be Well, Stay Kind, and Godspeed.

RESEARCH:

Denkova, E., Dolcos, S., & Dolcos, F. (2015). Neural correlates of ‘distracting’ from emotion during autobiographical recollection. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 10(2), 219-230. https://doi.org/10.1093/scan/nsu039