EMDR Lashback - When EMDR Goes Wrong

[Shellbell]

My trauma therapist wants to do EMDR with me and I have multiple severe trauma's.

I do trust her as much as I am capable of trusting (which is not great), and she is really experienced, but this still really concerns me.

I'm concerned the risk of things getting worse after EMDR outweighs the chance of it working. But then again, the thought of staying as I am now forever, is not good either.

Ah fear, my constant friend :(

 

[Abstract]

My last T wanted to do EMDR on me but I wasn't able to get anywhere near the level of trust she said I needed. I could barely speak at all in sessions and we were mostly using crayons to draw pictures or a sandtray when I was able to communicate at all. I am glad that she was wise enough to know it was not right at the time. I also have enormous chunks of memory missing from my childhood and flashbacks that don't link to anything that make sense for me. Others do though. I am trying to get myself to go back to T but wonder about EMDR after reading this thread and meeting two other people that have been thrown into constantly living in the past after. But then again I know so many people whose lives have been completely changed for the better. Maybe it is about weighing the potential gain and potential loss and comparing it to those with other methods.

I must say though that "normal" bad therapy has been damaging for me too. Maybe 99.9 % of this is about the therapist.

 

[Deleted member 1860]

I find it interesting that there are people who truly believe this treatment is infallible, that all fault lies in the practitioner when something goes wrong. I see the same with Neurofeedback. Don't blame the treatment, blame a bad therapist or the client he selves.

COME ON! It's complete BS. Anything to avoid criticizing the treatment itself. Sorry, but I see the same thing come up in Neurofeedback discussions. Why is this so? Nothing is perfect, so why do people believe it to be so?

 

[Abstract]

COME ON! It's complete BS. Anything to avoid criticizing the treatment itself.

Hi SOL,
Not sure if this is aimed at me or not but to be clear I do not see it as infallible. There are clearly people in here who have had good therapists who have had problems and I know others who have too. But most people seem to have wonderful results with this treatment from what I have heard.

There is a difference between a therapy being broken vs. the therapist (deliverer).

I am thinking that Anthony is possibly referring to this particular case but nevertheless from what I understand, which is limited, it seems a lot of the problems stem from the therapist not evaluating the situation properly to see if it is suitable or not knowing what they are doing at all.

I guess it may be like having an operation. There are always risks. A lot depends of the surgeon. Medical malpractice can occur. And sometimes unexpected complication happen and it is no ones fault but one of those risks one has with treatment. And when all goes well it can be life altering in the best way.

 

[Deleted member 1860]

No, Abstract, not aimed at you.

 

[littletrees]

Still not feeling great. I am on Zoloft and Ativan just to get through the day. I never felt like this my entire life until this EMDR treatment. Really wish I had found this thread before I even considered a therapist.

 

[Shellbell]

Well I have read more on this thread, and have noted I have all the following that are big no-no's for EMDR;

Severe multiple trauma
Complex trauma
Severe PTSD with 20 year delayed onset
Amnesia - considerable (years of missing memory)
Dissociation
Lack of trust

Don't think I will venturing near EMDR for some time, if ever.

 

[lighteningdarkness]

I've had EMDR and it worked really well, extremely difficult and upsetting, but with good results. I would say that to some degree I was retraumatised though. It's scary to read that people are dealing with more than 1 memory in an hour session, I can't see a way this would work.

We only dealt on the one 'image' per hour and a half session. Yes, other stuff came up but the focus at the end of the processing was on that image and how it had changed, whether the scoring, the cognition and the emotion linked to it had changed.

I had several times when I felt somewhat more comfortable with the image but it was not completely dealt with (processed). We took a lot of time at the end of these sessions grounding and doing safe place work, she checked how I was going to be safe and well for the week and that I knew I could contact her. Then the next week we worked again on the same memory until it was done.

It sounds like some Ts are starting the processing but not working fully through til the end, which would be extremely traumatising. I can feel the difference with the things I processed in later sessions (ie feeling more complete) versus the images we worked on in the first couple, when I was still getting to grips with the idea and she was learning how I reacted and worked with it.

I really feel for everyone who has had a bad experience and been negatively affected.

 

[cat]

Still not feeling great. I am on Zoloft and Ativan just to get through the day. I never felt like this my entire life until this EMDR treatment. Really wish I had found this thread before I even considered a therapist.

Hi Littletrees
I'm so sorry you are having a bad time with EMDR, how long have you been doing it? I think I felt worse for a good 6mths before I realised how much it had helped me. Make sure that your therapist is following the guidelines, you must have plenty of preparation time before the session & de-briefing after it. Before you leave your T they must make sure you are grounded & stable.

Have you tried writing down or recording your thoughts after a session. I found that really helpful as is cleared my mind of some of the bad stuff that had been brought to the surface. It also meant i could share it with my T at the next session or she was happy for me to email it to her. I dont know that she always read it but it helped me to pass it on out of my life.

Try to keep going & stay strong Littletrees, you are tougher than you think x

 

[maddog]

Can't agree more with Cat and L&D, all brilliant critical points in relation to doing EMDR safely, with any trauma, but particularly with complex/multiple trauma. It saddens and angers me that incompetent and irresponsible Ts are not following these critical guidelines, are retraumatising people and are giving the therapy a bad name as a result.

No, of course it's not for everyone - nothing is. But it can and is very successful for these complex forms of trauma if done correctly. In particular it is critical to pace the sessions appropriately, to plan well with the T, to leave lots of time for grounding and refocusing at the end, and followup/debriefing... which for me was perhaps the most important. Whether this is by way of phone contact between sessions, writing/journalling and sharing that with the T for later discussion and/or dedicating the entire next session to processing, this *must* occur and I would be instantly avoidant of a T who didn't respect this component of the process.

I am so sorry for those who have been distressed or set back by the use of this therapy. Yes, it is controversial and apparently often misunderstood/misapplied, but it is a valid and highly effective trauma therapy when utilised properly.

Maddog

 

[anthony]

This is a five year old thread, in which people are reflecting comments from the initial post.

 

[Geckowife]

I am new to this forum but I recently had an EMDR experience I am a little shaken from. I am wondering if anyone else has experienced something like this?

I am 27 and I started therapy to deal with childhood abuse from my dad molesting me. My therapist suggested EMDR therapy the second or third visit and we began processing over the last six months. Not every session is EMDR but most are. Much of my processing has been about my childhood but not necessarily my dad molesting me.

I really thought the therapy was great because it seemed to be working. Last week I was processing a memory and I experienced "flooding" for the first time. Image after image after image came to mind in quick succession. I found that furring the session I could literally feel the left side of my brain to be shutting off. The right said was tense and over stimulated. After the therapy I tried to talk to my therapist and I found I could think of what I wanted to say but when I tried to talk I was tongue tied. I couldn't speak. It was as if the connection between making my thoughts turn into speech was completely missing. My tongue felt heavy.

I got home and my husband was obviously concerned. It took over 8 hours before I could have a conversation that the other person understood what I was saying. Even then I felt my speech was slurred in some spots and a week later I feel like the way I formulate sentences and my sentence structure is often off or incorrect.

Today I went for my therapy session and we began EMDR again. I immediately got a massive headache and found the processing to be burdensome. I had flooding of images of me as a child over and over accompanied by fear. I felt like my brain was trying to block something I couldn't remember because the fear was directed toward my dad but I don't know what I was fearful of. I kept having unrelated thoughts pop in my head blocking something. I left with a huge headache and feeling unsettled and sick.

Also, I have been experiencing vertigo since thanksgiving which I now think is director related to the EMDR. I don't think I will be doing EMDR again. I am scared that it did change things in my brain. I feel upset and anxious. My head is killing me and I had to up my dose of Zoloft recently because my anxiety attacks were getting worse.