This is because the things we needed in the past, may no longer be what we need now. That distance is helpful in freeing up some space between ourselves and the situation so that we may have more choice to respond in a way that is most helpful for us now.

Gaining an understanding about why we think or act the way we do gives us clarity and a way to see it from a distance as if from a third person’s perspective.

When we look to the past with the intention to relate it back to our present, it can be an incredibly meaningful and ‘sense-making’ process. Having this information from the past helps me understand how I tend to think and behave about present situations that bring up similar feelings of fear or anxiety. Take being in a fearful situation as an example when I get curious about my first experiences of fearful situations, I may explore what I was implicitly or explicitly told about it at that time, what the adults around me ended up doing in that situation, and the kind of story I have since told myself about similar situations while growing up. Something happened, resulting in the current situation. We explain and make sense of ourselves and the immediate world around us by attributing cause and effect. Much of what we identify with, how we think and how we behave is naturally derived from our past experiences whether that be from the distant or more recent past. One important reason to talk about the past is because of how intricately connected it is to our present and impact our future. It may seem like digging up the past is irrelevant at best and at worst, unnecessarily painful to dredge up. It can be confusing why therapists focus so much on the past and are so intent on exploring it in therapy. And if you have decided to start therapy for the first time, chances are that while it was something that happened recently which prompted you to go, you may end up telling your therapist about your history and childhood. When it comes to therapy, there is often a stereotype of a patient reclining on a sofa and the therapist asking about their childhood.

Dredge up memories meaning