Behaviour Research and Therapy 45 (2007) 1915–1920 Shorter communication Keeping memories at an arm’s length: Vantage point of trauma memories Lucy M. Kenny, Richard A. Bryant à School of Psychology, University of New South Wales, NSW 2052, Sydney, Australia Received 24 March 2006; received in revised form 20 August 2006; accepted 7 September 2006 Abstract This study investigated the relationship between memory vantage point and avoidance following trauma. Sixty trauma survivors with differing levels of avoidance were interviewed about the vantage point of their memory for trauma, a positive memory, and a neutral memory. Avoidant individuals were more likely to remember their trauma from an observer perspective than individuals with a lower level of avoidance. Avoidance did not influence vantage point for positive or neutral memories. These data support the proposal that adoption of the observer vantage point for trauma memories may serve an avoidant function for people affected by trauma. r 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: Truama; Memory; Posttraumatic stress disorder; Dissociation Introduction Memory for trauma has received considerable attention in recent years (McNally, 2003). Many com- mentators have suggested that the aversive nature of trauma memories leads to avoidance strategies that may minimize the distress associated with the memories (Brewin, Dalgleish, & Joseph, 1996; Ehlers & Clark, 2000). Recent research has also suggested that people may reduce the distress associated with trauma memories by recalling the memory from an observer’s perspective; it is argued that this perspective allows some psychological distance between the individual and the memory they are recalling. McIsaac and Eich (2004) examined the trauma memories of 49 trauma survivors with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and discovered that approximately 37% of them reported remembering their trauma from an observer perspective. That is, these participants remember the event as if they were a spectator watching from a different point of view than that they experienced at the time of the trauma (McIsaac & Eich, 2004). While the tendency to remember traumatic experiences from the observer vantage point has been reported in previous studies (Carden˜a & Spiegel, 1993; Freinkel, Koopman, & Spiegel, 1994), McIsaac and Eich (2004) extended these findings by showing that individuals with observer memories reported less anxiety related to these memories than individuals who recalled their trauma from their own (field) perspective. This finding accords with ARTICLE IN PRESS www.elsevier.com/locate/brat 0005-7967/$ - see front matter r 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.brat.2006.09.004 à Corresponding author. Tel.: +61 2 93853640; fax: +61 2 93853641. E-mail address: r.bryant@unsw.edu.au (R.A. Bryant).