{"id":10698,"date":"2026-07-28T18:01:26","date_gmt":"2026-07-28T15:01:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/annakarakerezi.gr\/can-we-change-the-past-or-do-we-change-the-story-we-tell-about-it\/"},"modified":"2026-09-01T10:15:59","modified_gmt":"2026-09-01T07:15:59","slug":"can-we-change-the-past-or-do-we-change-the-story-we-tell-about-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/annakarakerezi.gr\/en\/can-we-change-the-past-or-do-we-change-the-story-we-tell-about-it\/","title":{"rendered":"Can We Change the Past? Or Do We Change the Story We Tell About It?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-group psychology-article-intro has-background\" style=\"background-color:#f7f3ed\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The past does not change as a set of facts, but the way we carry it can change profoundly. The first stories we create about what happened to us, especially in childhood, are not always objective or accurate; they are often shaped by fear, guilt, helplessness, or the need to explain something we were too young to understand. A child may believe they caused their parents\u2019 separation, that they were not worthy of love, or that a painful loss somehow happened because of them. These interpretations can follow us for years, not because the events themselves keep repeating, but because we continue to give them the same meaning. Memory, however, does not work like a photograph. Each time we recall an experience, it is influenced by what we have learned since, by what we have lived through, and by the person we have become.    <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Therapeutic change does not mean erasing or idealising the past. It means returning to it from the perspective of the person we are now and reconsidering the meaning we once gave it. Processes such as memory reconsolidation and imagery rescripting suggest that a painful memory can acquire new emotional meaning without changing the reality of what happened. What was once connected only with helplessness, guilt, or despair can gradually become part of a more complex story that also includes understanding, resilience, and personal growth. Perhaps the real question, then, is not whether we can change the past, but what story we continue to tell about it \u2014 and whether that story is still keeping us trapped in an earlier version of ourselves.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-nowrap is-layout-flex wp-container-core-group-is-layout-8f761849 wp-block-group-is-layout-flex\">\n<p class=\"wp-container-content-9cfa9a5a wp-block-paragraph\"><em>The full article was originally published on the Psychology Portal \u2013 Psychology.gr.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-layout-flex wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link wp-element-button\" href=\"https:\/\/www.psychology.gr\/selfhelp\/9779-boroyme-na-allaksoume-to-parelthon-i-allazoume-telika-tin-istoria-pou-leme-gi-afto.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read the full article<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n    <section class=\"anna-related-services-block\">\n        <h3 class=\"anna-related-services-block__title\">Related services<\/h3>\n\n                    <p class=\"anna-related-services-block__intro\">You can read more about related services:<\/p>\n        \n        <div class=\"anna-related-services-block__buttons\">\n                            \n                <a class=\"anna-related-services-block__button\" href=\"https:\/\/annakarakerezi.gr\/en\/services\/individual-therapy\/\">\n                    Individual Therapy                <\/a>\n                            \n                <a class=\"anna-related-services-block__button\" href=\"https:\/\/annakarakerezi.gr\/en\/services\/group-therapy\/\">\n                    Group Therapy                <\/a>\n                            \n                <a class=\"anna-related-services-block__button\" href=\"https:\/\/annakarakerezi.gr\/en\/services\/couples-therapy\/\">\n                    Couples Therapy                <\/a>\n                            \n                <a class=\"anna-related-services-block__button\" href=\"https:\/\/annakarakerezi.gr\/en\/services\/family-therapy\/\">\n                    Family Therapy                <\/a>\n                            \n                <a class=\"anna-related-services-block__button\" href=\"https:\/\/annakarakerezi.gr\/en\/services\/parent-counseling\/\">\n                    Parent Counseling                <\/a>\n                            \n                <a class=\"anna-related-services-block__button\" href=\"https:\/\/annakarakerezi.gr\/en\/services\/greeks-living-abroad-and-migration\/\">\n                    Greeks Living Abroad and Migration                <\/a>\n                    <\/div>\n    <\/section>\n    \n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The past does not change as a set of facts, but the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":10697,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[301,305,308,306],"tags":[287,387,289,312,392,462,431,513,527],"class_list":["post-10698","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-self-awareness-and-personal-development","category-grief-loss-and-life-transitions","category-mental-health-mental-disorders-and-resilience","category-relationships-and-communication","tag-imagery-rescripting","tag-memory","tag-memory-reconsolidation","tag-mental-toughness","tag-neurosciences","tag-personal-growth","tag-psychological-trauma","tag-re-meaning-meaning-reconstruction","tag-self-awareness"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/annakarakerezi.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10698","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/annakarakerezi.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/annakarakerezi.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/annakarakerezi.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/annakarakerezi.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10698"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/annakarakerezi.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10698\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10699,"href":"https:\/\/annakarakerezi.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10698\/revisions\/10699"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/annakarakerezi.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10697"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/annakarakerezi.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10698"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/annakarakerezi.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10698"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/annakarakerezi.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10698"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}