I recently published a note about nightmares as a sign (symptom) of PTSD. https://www.b17.ru/article/315369/?prt=92671 She said that I ask different questions, when I study the client’s life history. So, in addition to being interested in the quality of the client’s sleep, I always ask how he remembers himself, from what age and whether his memory of himself is continuous. Let me explain. Continuous memory is remembering myself, albeit in fragments, but every year life. To think about it, and again translate it into a symptom of trauma, will alert you if a person remembers himself from the age of 5-7 or even later. Or he remembers from the 4th, but there are no memories of the 5th-7th grade. It is no coincidence that it is no coincidence... The human psyche is incredibly protective and not a single event, forgetting, or even movement happens just like that. I just ask you not to confuse yourself. If you have YOUR OWN (I’ll explain this emphasis later) memory at 4 years old and it’s literally minute is normal. That’s how I remember myself. First, I’m three years old (summer, so I’m sure of my age). I’m standing on a stool near the sink, which contains a large can of orange juice. Like a can. Maybe my peers will remember these-:)) Google didn’t help, there’s no such picture-:((I really loved this juice, but I didn’t have it in the house often, so I remember the moment as incredibly positive. I also have blurry memories of it age, but I’m not sure that it’s purely mine. I seem to remember that I was going to the photo studio with my dad, but I’m not sure. There are photos, so maybe this is already a recreated memory. It’s interesting with clients: “Remember?” They say yes. But in the process of work it is understood that all the memories are either from photographs or from stories. So, I remember something at three years old, something at four years old, and so on. Why don’t some people. Do they remember? Why does the psyche repress periods of life? So there was something traumatic in the client’s history. I don’t remember grades 5-8 - perhaps something happened in the children’s group while I was very young: unbearable episodes of father’s drunkenness or endless shame. The strength of psychological defenses varies. , the power of the event too. That’s why some people remember even the worst things, for example, sexual abuse at the age of 5, while others cannot reproduce everyday life filled with neglect and ignorance until the same age of 5. It’s curious when people with 2 years and even earlier they remember themselves-:) By the way, many moments can be remembered in therapy... And at what age do you remember yourself? Have you suddenly, as an adult, remembered something that surprised you from childhood? There was also an interesting moment when I remembered in therapy a young and happy mother, even before my dad’s death.. A completely different mother... It was a resource. I really wanted to remember at least something related to my dad, but it didn’t work out for a long time. But recently I was able to delve deeper into one episode and expand my perspective. Even to the feeling of his hands. I'm glad. In general, everything inside us is not simple and incredibly interesting. Come explore - :) With respect to you, Elena Kislova.