We define trauma as a threat that the individual experiences as a lowering (sometimes even an annulment) of one's ability to face life in a manner appropriate to the circumstances . Faced with a threat (real or presumed) to our existence we can have the most varied reactions .

It is interesting to note that the emotional (and therefore behavioral) consequences are similar in both true and presumed danger. Thus, any event perceived as a threat or as a loss, can fall under the heading "trauma" . There is therefore no category of "real traumas" as opposed to one of "false traumas". We could distinguish, case ever, trauma with a capital "T" and trauma with a lower-case "t". In everyday life, many events can disturb us, slightly or seriously . This depends, above all, on the meaning we attribute to it. The subjective way of experiencing an experience as traumatic is evident when we examine events such as being rejected at school, being told that one is not attractive or having experiences like losing one's cat hit by a car. Not everyone reacts in the same way. The gravity of the fact depends on us for the most part from the importance we attach to it .

The traumas with the tiny "t" are innumerable and life is full of them. Often they result in the individual having feelings similar to the major traumas and inducing sometimes extensive conditioning that goes well beyond the fact itself. All that disturbs a person in the present time has in most cases a trace in the past : this allows us to trace the origin of the disorder even when it is unknown. The negative events, then, are recorded by the mind that keeps them in a kind of "waiting" state in their own archives. In this way they can be "awakened" at any time, even, and above all, in an unconscious way.

What makes an old trauma dangerous, when it has not been "digested", is the possibility of reliving in the present the emotion we felt then (anger, fear or other) if there is an element capable of "reactivating" it.

Any factor can be triggering, even the most unthinkable, even if apparently it has nothing to do with the episode we experienced before. Certain "irrational" or "illogical" behaviors give us the measure of the power of past unresolved traumas. The result is that of "reviving", now, the emotional state we experienced then, with what follows, ie behaviors, thoughts, decisions that disturb us.

By analogy, we could compare the traumas to splinters embedded in the body; the only way to get better is to take them off without having to take drugs that are only temporary. Removing the splinters means getting rid of the problem, preventing it from recurring at the slightest stimulus. One of the most advanced procedures to render the unintended consequences of traumas harmless, such as negative emotions and inappropriate behavior in the circumstances, is called RIT (Traumatic Incident Reduction).

It is a simple and revolutionary technique that requires specific training, is systematic and non-judgmental and takes place in individual sessions.

This technique favors the development of awareness in the individual, so as to allow him to face life in a more adequate way, and free him from conditioning due to unpleasant events of the past, recognizing to each individual the ability to heal on his own.

RIT is led by a trained person, called "Facilitator", which facilitates the awareness in the other, without interpretations or evaluations, following specific steps. The result obtained is to dissolve or transform the crystallized energy in the trauma, or to make it a "harmless" memory for the person who lived it.

Based on the Person-centered approach, RIT was refined to promote personal growth and the development of human potential, during the 1980s, by Dr. Frank A. Gerbode, an American psychiatrist.

RIT is defined as "Power Therapy" in the treatment of "Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder" (PTSD).

The training of RIT facilitators is carried out by the Institute of Applied Metapsychology, the only authorized center in Italy.