Messy Memories: Mobile Application Therapy Following Critical Illness

"Messy Memories is a mobile application that allows users to self-administer exposure therapy techniques outside of the traditional psychotherapy context. Participants are asked to audio record a difficult (messy) memory, including what they did, felt, thought, smelled, saw, etc. They are then asked questions about what it was like to re-experience the memory, such as what emotions were elicited (e.g., sadness, anger, fear). Next, participants are asked to process what the memory means to them. They are then instructed to listen to their recording as often as they like, until the memory becomes easier to re-experience. They respond to processing questions each time they listen to their prior difficult memory."