Somatic Healing Vs. Emdr

[Dana1010]

I have an appointment with an EMDR therapist next week and was wondering if anyone here could tell me what to expect. I'm especially interested in whether EMDR is a form of somatic healing or something entirely different. How do they compare?

I started reading Peter Levine's Waking the Tiger, and I am learning a lot about trauma. It's not a bad mood, and it's not simply a memory of what happened. Much of what he writes is clicking with me so far. Last night after reading a chapter I thought I could almost feel a physical tremor and something being thrown off. Was I imagining it? Could reading alone affect change on that level? Needless to say, I recommend everyone here get themselves a copy.

 

[Cassey]

Hi, I had emdr for 10 weeks at the beginning of the year. The first session wasn't bad at all for me, she got me to relax which was the first time since my incident. However the follow 5 weeks were the hardest of my life, don't know how it works but you start thinking about things back in childhood all the way to now. I found one week very difficult and it did push me to the edge, I was lucky because a work friend had gone through the same and understood.. Make sure you tell your closet what you are going through you will need there support. I am due to start cbt soon, the emdr did help with everything upto and including the incident. I now need cbt to help me with panic attacks-anxiety issues which are preventing me doing my job fully. Good luck go for it but be prepared x

 

[Dana1010]

Cassey,

I guess it's a good idea to be on medication while you undergo the process to keep you functional. Would you say it purged you or was it just drudging up muck for nothing? I mean you're still having panic attacks after EMDR. Don't know quite what to make of that.

 

[Cassey]

I was given some sleeping tablets to help me sleep and reduce my anxiety but after taking them for a week I stopped before the emdr.
I found some sessions worse than others and felt very drained afterwards. I can see now looking back how things do link together in your life if you have not got over a previous tramatic incident. It's like joining the dots of your life.

Yes I do still have some panic attacks but that is down to me pushing myself to hard. The incident that set me off was in work, so they have been very supportive. In this last week I have stopped pushing myself, I have a few steps to go to get back to my original role but that's were my cbt will help me.

Just take it easy and don't push yourself to hard

 

[Dana1010]

Well, I'm starting a new job and it's frankly a fast paced wild goose chase, so I'm a little worried about being destabilized. As for support, I'm very much a loner right now, so I'm not going to have anyone to turn to if things get too dramatic. I really don't want to deal with a tidal wave of stuff from my childhood right now - there's just too much of that to work through in a lifetime.

 

[Cassey]

My advice would be is to plan you emdr after work and before a day off to assist you to process stuff. I am not going to lie it is hard, but well worth it. One of my tramatic incidents I had never talked about in detail till after emdr, now it's just a memory. If you need a chat just send me a message your not alone x

 

[franciemarnie]

In somatic therapy, you don't have to go into details about trauma at all.

I have never done EMDR. I don't know much about it except what I've read. I know there are threads on here that have talked about it.) I have just worked with a Somatic Therapist, which has been a dream.

So cool if you are having some release or good somatic sensation from Levine's book. I love his stuff. You can't predict what will trigger release.

 

[Hashi]

The kind of therapy Peter Levine is talking about is craniosacral therapy or somatic experiencing. I had craniosacral therapy, it was wonderful and really helped me in healing. Like @franciemarnie says, you don't have to go into details about trauma at all. I didn't even have to think about it - with craniosacral therapy your therapist works directly with your central nervous system and cell energy.

EMDR is a type of exposure therapy, which is different. I tested out EMDR with something fairly neutral, and I didn't like it at all. I found it like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut. A very unpleasant sledgehammer at that. No-one even knows how it works but my experience of it and what I've read is that it's basically disrupting your brain. The idea being perhaps that the EMDR is disrupting the disruption that came from trauma, and your brain can kind of rewire itself as a result. To me, this felt intrusive and confrontational. My brain did not want to be disrupted more. Whereas my experience of craniosacral therapy was that it enabled my system's natural healing ability, like it was removing a block to the way I'm naturally meant to heal from trauma - Peter Levine likens this to how your finger will heal from a cut without you consciously doing anything.

As you'll know from reading Waking the Tiger, somatic therapy is about awakening the body's ability to release trauma energy, for example through shaking.

It concerns me how people talk about bad psychological reactions during/for a short time after EMDR. I don't expect this from a therapy that's meant to help me, and I didn't have it from somatic (craniosacral) therapy. To me, crashing or suffering like that isn't part of healing. This is where the sledgehammer part comes in, and I think that nut can be cracked in other, less brutal ways. Any trauma work brings challenges as we have to face and process what happened, and we have to allow our bodies to work through that. Having said that, I don't see dissociation, splitting, overwhelm or any extent of retraumatisation as a necessary part of that.

I saw a somatic therapist who was very knowledgeable and experienced in trauma (not just birth trauma). I'd always recommend that, with any kind of therapist.

 

[Hashi]

I started reading Peter Levine's Waking the Tiger... Last night after reading a chapter I thought I could almost feel a physical tremor and something being thrown off. Was I imagining it? Could reading alone affect change on that level?

Yes, it could. This is "resonating" - literally. I've had that feeling you describe - the almost physical tremor - when I've connected to something that's very healing for me.

I strongly urge you to look into somatic therapy, given what you have said here. It sounds like you might be very attuned to it.

 

[Dana1010]

Hashi,

Thanks for your posts - very informative. I came across a magazine article by a woman who'd undergone EMDR and she made it seem like a silver bullet with minimal side effects, maybe because her trauma was relatively light and recent. I wouldn't necessarily mind an invasive, confrontational therapy if I had the free time, space and sanctuary to go through it, but I'm dealing with a lot of distractions and demands right now.

Is "craniosacral therapy" the correct term to search or would "somatic experiencing" be better?

Sigh. Back to Google.

 

[shell]

@Hashi, I have been having having craniosacral therapy as part of treatment for a back nerve issue, but have not had any positive experience from it. To be honest other than it being relaxing, and leaving me a little spacey it feels like nothing is happening. Is the treatment you are having different to normal cranialsacral therapy? Is there something different they do from the standard treatment when treating trauma?

 

[Hashi]

I came across a magazine article by a woman who'd undergone EMDR and she made it seem like a silver bullet with minimal side effects,

If you search for EMDR on this website you'll find posts from some people who are very positive about EMDR and how it has helped them. I'm not sure how many would say it has minimal side effects. The people who are positive about it seem mostly to also say how tough it is, and to describe various side effects and bad reactions - which they feel worth it for the overall benefit. To me, what people tend to describe would be a red flag.

Many people also seem to have been having EMDR for a number of years, which to me is a contraindication but I suppose it isn't to them.

I'm sure if an advocate for EMDR reads this and disagrees, they'll post and put a different view.

...maybe because her trauma was relatively light and recent.

Depending on the type of trauma and when it took place, someone might not meet the criteria for PTSD. If they do, I think there are still issues of how much/how long trauma has been held and suppressed. Peter Levine explains about trauma energy trying to emerge and being pushed back down, as a process of refreezing that embeds it even more deeply. My craniosacral therapist perceived this in me as it developing into fear of the fear, and then fear of the fear of the fear.... and so on.

EMDR has been questioned for complex trauma (severe, repeated or prolonged trauma). Attitudes towards this might be changing as EMDR develops. My feeling is that if trauma is complex or deeply embedded, then EMDR is likely to be less effective and more difficult/risky.

Is "craniosacral therapy" the correct term to search or would "somatic experiencing" be better?

They're both correct. They're slightly different forms of somatic therapy. I'd suggest finding a training college or professional membership organisation for each and talking to them on the phone if you feel able to. One question you might ask is how they'd explain the difference between the two.

Can I ask what country you're in? I know more about UK resources.

Something I should have said in my post is that I've also had psychotherapy/art therapy with a different trauma specialist. I don't somatic therapy alone is likely to be enough, it wouldn't have been for me because I've needed to work through so much about the meaning and effects of the trauma. I started somatic therapy first, and it made the psychotherapy possible/valuable.