Is Anyone Else Having Emdr Sessions At The Moment?

[Marymickaela]

The EMDR session didn't go as planned, but was good. I gave her my list of 3 Targets and said I thought we could use the one from age 12. I than gave her a quick update on what's going on and said I had to see my dentist after our appt. and was very upset with him as he will never admit to being wrong. She said "why don’t we do our session on my difficulty with CONFRONTATIONS". I said sure as I had gotten myself pretty worked up talking about dealing with this dentist. So the form of EMDR she uses is tapping or listening to tones. I like listening to the tones.

She asked me to think of a time I had difficulty confronting someone. Of course the 1st one to come up was the current situation with my dentist. We discussed that for a minute or so. She then turned the tones on again and I started thinking of many different times, talk about it, listen to the tones, on and on. I told her about when I had been hospitalized back in 2004. I was treated badly, nobody would listen to me, I was talked down to. The doctor was horrible and when I asked for a different one I was told he was the only one they had.

I talked about a lot of situations which had been traumatic when they happened, but didn't feel any emotions while talking about them to her, I talked so much that our session was 1 hour and 15 min. When we were done I could feel myself dissociating a lot, but told her I thought I’d be ok, that I’d sit in my car for a while until I was ok to drive.

I asked her how I should confront my dentist and she said that it was the child me that had problems with confrontations so the adult me had to stand up for her. I held my ground with the dentist and he checked my night guard and said it would work the way it was, but knew I wouldn’t be happy with it that way so they will fix it. Yeah! Score one for me and make it the way it was supposed to be made. He still acted like he was doing me a favor.

So it was a good session. Don’t know if next week we’ll continue along these same lines, but guess I’ll see.

 

[Laurie2001]

I'm glad you had a good experience. I have complex PTSD and am very reactive and PTSD has been way too intense for me. I left the session the last time feeling like I was back at home in such an intense way and spent a lot of the weekend in bed frozen. So Obviously I'm not stable enough or don't have the coping resources to do it. ALso there were just so many incidents its hard because more and more stuff not to come up while we're doing it and then we don't really get to the place we need to be.

But I'm happy for those of your for whom it helps. I will say it cured my Seasonal Affective Disorder a few years ago in 2 sessions. That was unbelievable. But the PTSD is a whole other story. But maybe when I'm less reactive...

 

[nessa3]

Hi
I am going through sessions of EMDR and finding it tough. It brings out very intense reactions which ar...

EMDR...have been for a year. your T should help you to ground yourself. And if its to much then they should stop and do other type of therapy so your not to triggered.
My T is trying some attachment work because I cant connect to good emotions for very long...it goes negative...and I block them shut down.

 

[oasis2003]

Hi
I am glad EMDR is working for you guys, and has worked in the past. I don't think EMDR is right for me though. I go in too deep and dissociate and freeze for days on end. We have decided to try Acceptance Commitment Therapy see if that helps. Has anyone tried ACT Therapy before?

I know EMDR works wonders for some people so please keep trying it if you feel it is right for you.
We are all different.

 

[Marymickaela]

I had my 2nd EMDR session today. I told my therapist that last week where we worked on "Confrontation" I was just spewing situations out, but had no emotions attached to any of them. Today she wanted me to work on the 1st time I remember feeling afraid. I was about 4 and lay in my bed listening to my mom begging my dad to stop beating her. She asked me to visualize the little girl so I guess I wasn't the little girl, just watching her. Again I had no feelings attached to this event. She asked me if I could comfort the little girl, what would I do? I was able to describe how to comfort her, make her feel safe, take her out of the situation.

I think I might have processed this memory back in 1997. I was seeing someone for Reiki. This person had me visualize something similar. But at one point she tells to have the little girl with her protector by her side to go downstairs. In my mind, I did. She then tells me to tell my dad "out loud" to stop hurting my mom. I was able to do that in a strong voice. I repeated the order over and over and over, until he stopped. I remember yelling "you leave my mom alone!!!" She then told me to go back upstairs and get in bed and my mom would come read me a bedtime story. As she said the words "read me a bedtime story" she placed a teddy bear into my arms. I started sobbing and sobbing uncontrollably saying "my mom never read me a bedtime story". I was lying down with my eyes closed the entire time we were doing this. It was so powerful so I'm wondering if I've already processed the memory of that 4 year-old little girl.

Today, when we were done I was dissociating some. My therapist told me to just sit until I got my bearings and not drive the car until I felt grounded. I ended up taking a 45 min. nap, watching a movie and eating a big bowl of popcorn with lots of butter. Comfort food.

 

[Michael Holland]

I had my 2nd EMDR session today. I told my therapist that last week where we worked on "Confrontat...

Hi Marymickaela,

I'm a newly trained EMDR therapist. I was very moved by what you wrote. You've got a lot of courage. I'm considering all the responses to this thread. They have all been very useful and will inform my practice. I hope that your journey takes you further in the direction you wish to go.
Best wishes,
Michael

 

[vivalatapping]

emdr sounds interesting

 

[Freespirit1974]

I have had EMDR therapy recommended for me, but to be honest I am chicken. Currently, I am not in therapy, but plan on going back when my life takes a turn in the positive direction. I am such a flashback person and a person that the trauma is live, when I retell it. This leads me to believe that I am not a good candidate for EMDR. What benefits did anyone find from EMDR and what were the biggest challenges?

 

[TheSpydah]

I had my second EMDR session this week. So far I am finding it more useful than seeing the psychiatrist, and for the first time in my life I do not dread the session.
I also, however, find it utterly exhausting. I walk out of the office in some kind of a daze, and it's very difficult to go home because it's in a very crowded area of a big city. Crowds are not ok for me yet. The first day I crumbled during the session, but in some ways I am glad I did. I had not been able to cry in a long time. And I am finding it possible to be more open about my despondency. The therapist is very direct, and that helps.

I wanted to know from others: is it normal to have a flood of memories, directly or indirectly tied with the trauma(as), come up in the days following the EMDR?

 

[lowen]

I had EMDR over a decade ago, with the band of lights, and found it to be very helpful. Transformative. Now, I am about to have my first session with a different therapist (I live in a different state now) for a new issue. She will not be using the lights. Only head phones and the finger vibration. I was very disappointed when she told me she doesn't have/use the lights. I looked high and low, tried four different nearby cities to find a certified EMDR therapist who also seemed a good match for me. What's up with this? Isn't the EM part of the acronym Eye Movement? Has anyone else had EMDR without the EM????? I had to wait for over a year to begin therapy - for the court cases to wrap up and I was finally able to let go of holding the details of the trauma for testifying. And now I feel disappointed and frustrated. I am hesitant to try to find a different therapist; I otherwise like this one, after one in-person session and one phone session (I was travelling and she didn't want me to go for the three weeks before another session). Any information or perspectives would be greatly appreciated. Thank you. And health and healing to all.

 

[garden]

I was told that I was not suitable for this kind of therapy (EMDR), and that it could actually cause me more problems than I already have. I found this news to be disappointing because I have seen others comment on how helpful it is for them and how improved their lives are for it...I wanted some of that, ya know? We are all different and ther is no one size fits all.

 

[lowen]

I was told that I was not suitable for this kind of therapy (EMDR), and that it could actually cause me...

Keep on looking for something that will be healing for you!