Parents sometimes have a curious experience. You may be watching your adult child across a room and suddenly glimpse the younger child you once knew. For a moment the thirty-year-old and the four-year-old seem to exist at the same time.

When Bessel van der Kolk published The Body Keeps the Score , he articulated something trauma therapists had long observed in the consulting room. Traumatic experience is not confined to narrative memory. It is expressed in posture, muscle tension, autonomic shifts, and learned expectations of danger. The cultural impact was significant. Trauma entered mainstream conversation. The role of embodied experience became widely acknowledged. As that conversation matured, a practica

Affective Blocks in the Therapy Room Most therapists recognize the moment. The session has been thoughtful. The pattern is clear. The cycle has been named. Then something tightens. A parent suddenly reacts to a child’s tone. A partner escalates at a specific phrase. A name is mentioned, and the room shifts. What follows is not confusion or a lack of understanding. It is a particular emotional reaction that feels immediate, overwhelming, and disproportionate to the present mom

Many therapists come to RET after years of solid clinical practice. They understand systems. They can map interactional cycles. They recognise attachment patterns and relational positions. They know how to slow conversations, invite reflection, and create a safe space. And yet, certain moments keep repeating. A parent understands why they react so strongly to their child, but the reaction still happens.A couple can describe their cycle in detail, but under pressure, they coll