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Very, very normal reaction, and almost inevitable in the case of disrupted childhood attachments. It could even be said that it's very healthy to identify and be attracted towards healthy parental figures - it shows the capacity for healthy attachment instinct and an awareness of the traits and...

Hearing you really, really deeply Bubz... everything you said. I find that the only times I can find the words - my beloved words that I used to be so good with - to describe the symptoms or struggles, are the times when they have abated somewhat, and I feel positively humiliated, ridiculous...

Feeling a sense of shared experience with others is one of the potential benefits of any group therapy context I think, so I'm glad it was able to achieve that for you. "The Happiness Trap" has beaten me for now too Alba, I've given up... or perhaps I should rephrase and say that I've postponed...

Maggiemay, I have always used the tapping for EMDR, so can't compare it with the eye movements, but I find the tapping to be very effective. An additional benefit is that I find it to be very grounding and fearI would struggle to retain dual focus with the eye movements. There is something...

The other thing to remember about sharing your past is it doesn't have to be a case of all or nothing. You don't need to share everything, or much at all at first if you don't feel ready, it's more about starting the process of sharing and disclosure and moving through that at a pace that is...

My bottom line with all of this stuff (unproven and non-scientific) is that if the behaviour or strategy is limiting or negatively impacting on your quality of life, functioning or ability to consistently achieve what you're trying to achieve, then it's probably something that needs addressing...

For me it's absolutely only my therapist and my forum friends - not sure if you all count as established friends, new friends or strangers!! I do think it's important to note that closeness can mean many different things to many different people, as outlined above. The person you share the...

I agree with all that Intothelight said, but would simply add that for me, there is a subtle yet important difference between a therapist having an emotional reaction and allowing the client to see it, and using that emotional reaction, either intentionally or unintentionally, to guilt...

Abstract, your last comment, about the simultaneous physical pain of isolation and the inability to connect, is one of the most disturbing and confusing aspects of this phenomena for me. It is absolutely the case that the more I feel unable, and even sometimes fiercely unwilling, to reach out...

I would agree that you needn't worry at this point that EMDR won't work for you, or feel despair that your first introductory session was a bit rough. There is no doubt that the processes of EMDR take some getting used to - it is an unfamiliar and unusual process which requires an unfamiliar...

I truly believe that human beings are hard-wired to be essentially egotistical. Whenever anything happens in our lives, we ask ourselves, either consciously or unconsciously, "what's in this for me?" In terms of stepping in to render assistance or to react to observed wrongs, therefore, the...

Totally agree that digging for traumas, for the sake of finding them or of finding out if they're there, is a really bad idea - very unnecessarily traumatising, potentially very misleading and really just a recipe for creating additional distress and confusion where it needn't exist. I am a...

My greatest problem is that I'm good at going through the motions of engaging in positive self talk, identifying positive things about myself etc. I can teach myself to do this routinely, and to know, in my head, the things that I am telling myself. But somehow I never "feel" them. The...

A sense of a foreshortened future and a perpetual sense of impending dread/doom is a very common hallmark of PTSD. For me, when I am really struggling, it pays to try hard to focus only on the here and now and just making it through each moment as safely and positively as possible, both because...

Abstract, gosh, if you're an alien, then there's plenty of us here on this foreign planet! I almost always find your posts disconcertingly accurate and insightful and rarely have anything to say other than "gosh, me too, how did you know!" Blackbird, I like the distinction you made between...

Very topical for me Muse, as I've been doing some ACT with my therapist for a little while now. We were working on trauma processing primarily using EMDR, but he wanted to do some ACT work with me for a time to try to enhance my coping and functionality, which is one of the primary aims and...

As always Abstract, your insights are amazing, though I'm still chewing over them (if you'll pardon the pun) and trying to find words to put around a response. I think what you said about there being more emotions associated with that period for you, is true for me too. I think I can feel...

In addition to what Abstract said, all of which is relevant to me at certain times, I think that part of the fear that often prevents me from responding to basic texts and calls as well, is the fear of opening up a situation I won't be able to contain, or otherwise destabilising my world at a...

I've started to experience something I have never, ever, experienced, somethingI can't even begin to believe is happening to me. It started when I was recently in hospital. It started when one of my favourite night nurses began to encourage me to drink a warm milo and to eat warm raisin toast...

My therapist told me yesterday that if I invested half as much energy in focusing on positive things as I do on beating myself up, my quality of life would improve dramatically. When I somewhat petulantly, and with extreme distress, sarcastically commented that yes, of course, I love feeling...

Gosh, I could "like" everything in this thread a hundred times, even the things that seem contradictory. That really struck me actually, the fact that at different times, everything here resonates with me, even the polar opposite things. For example, sometimes I attribute my isolating...

This thread is really validating and helpful to me, your honesty and sharing means a lot. While I'm not going through the process of medication withdrawal, i'm living through the process of trying to manage extreme depression and anxiety symptoms without medications, which I can't take for...

This is a really interesting topic. I have long been aware of the discomfort that this seemingly innane feature of basic human communication causes me. I suppose I have just come to assume it's a common and ever-difficult symptom of my generalised social awkwardness and anxiety and the fact...

EMDR, like all therapies, affects everyone differently and so it's impossible to know how you will feel afterwards or if social catchups will be what you need at the time. In my experience, EMDR can have a fairly profound impact for a while and can sometimes leave you feeling pretty tired, a...

Sharing trauma is such a conflicted, complex, turbulent process, and in some sense, I don't think there's such a thing as a "normal" reaction. Given how conflicted and tormenting the experiences were for you at the time, it is almost inevitable that the whole spectrum of those feelings will be...