Hotspot Record
Download or send
Choose your language
Professional version
Offers theory, guidance, and prompts for mental health professionals. Downloads are in Fillable PDF format where appropriate.
Client version
Includes client-friendly guidance. Downloads are in Fillable PDF format where appropriate.
Fillable version (PDF)
A fillable version of the resource. This can be edited and saved in Adobe Acrobat, or other PDF editing software.
Editable version (PPT)
An editable Microsoft PowerPoint version of the resource.
Editable version (DOC)
An editable Microsoft Word version of the resource.
Translation Template
Are you a qualified therapist who would like to help with our translation project?
Tags
Languages this resource is available in
Problems this resource might be used to address
Techniques associated with this resource
Mechanisms associated with this resource
Introduction & Theoretical Background
Hotspot identification and updating is core component of the 'enhanced reliving' technique - cognitive restructuring within reliving for PTSD. In a typical course of therapy including enhanced reliving traumatic appriasals are identified during reliving, and updates are elaborated off-line (outside of reliving). Updated beliefs can then be inserted into the memory during another session of reliving by pausing to ask the critical question "and what do you know now?". This Hotspot Record is formatted to facilitate this off-line process. It include spaces to record the event/hotspot, associated emotion, appraisal or belief in that moment, and the updated belief or current knowledge. Clinicians are strongly urged to read the paper by Grey, Young & Holmes (2002) which clearly details this process.
Therapist Guidance
Enhanced reliving consists of a number of steps:
- Identification of (peri-) traumatic appraisals & emotions
- Identifying current knowledge ("what do you know now?")
- Integrating current knowledge back into the memory
The Hotspot Record is designed to facilitate steps 1 & 2. Clients should be encouraged to:
- Describe the image which represents the worst moment of the trauma. They might re-experience this moment frequently in flashbacks, or you can ask “If the memory was like a movie, can you fast-forward to the worst point then pause it and describe the scene?”
- Rate the emotion(s) associated with that moment, and rate the intensity of each emotion.
- Identify the client’s appraisal of that worst moment by asking questions like “What does that image mean to you?”, “In that moment what did you think was going to happen?”, “In that moment, what did you think about yourself?”. The aim is to
References And Further Reading
- Ehlers, A., Clark, D. M. (2000). A cognitive model of posttraumatic stress disorder. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 38, 319-345.
- Grey, N., Young, K., & Holmes, E. (2002). Cognitive restructuring within reliving: a treatment for peritraumatic emotional "hotspots" in posttraumatic stress disorder. Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy, 30, 37-56.