Abstract: Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms are notoriously difficult to treat. The need for a simple, easily reproducible technique, that could inactivate the repetitive intrusive imagery of the traumatic event, prompted the trial of a technique originally devised for phobias.

Nineteen members of the West Midlands Police Force, who qualified as PTSD sufferers, were offered the ‘re-wind’ technique. On average only three therapeutic sessions were required per patient. During a two-year follow-up, all victims remained free of intrusive images and resumed their occupations.

It is hoped that such a consistently rapid and effective technique will open the way for more victims to be treated and for controlled trials to be facilitated.