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So - full disclosure here - I don't know anything about the use of EMDR for phobias. I don't have any "phobias" exactly. I have a known "triggers" that I avoid with a passion - and I'm not sure of the exact differences between the two. I'm also not sure of the criteria of when an irrational...

@DogLover33 - are your phobias related to PTSD? Do you have PTSD? Is your therapist trained and certified to do EMDR? Have you worked on developing internal resources? How is it you're doing EMDR and he hasn't explained what you're doing to you? My concern would be the last question...

No offense @lostforgottensoul, but I think, in a lot of cases, BPD is a bullsh*t diagnosis that was invented before there was a) more understanding of the impact of childhood trauma and b) less understanding about the limits the therapies that were considered standard might not be so helpful...

@Justmehere - I agree, I think it's great you're reaching out and getting support. [[Start Rant]] I also wanted to share a similar experience a friend of mine is having with her daughter-in-law. D-in-L was diagnosed with a recurrence of cancer last November. She refused to see the oncologist...

I tried using this book a couple of years ago (with my counselor). I was majorly retraumatized...maybe because I wasn't ready, maybe because the modality is more exposure-based...anyway, it wasn't for me. I was also on a forum with women who were using the book (I think the forum has actually...

I certainly agree that most people who have been abused don't go on to abuse others; however, I'm curious if you have data to back this statement up. I am in NO WAY excusing or defending abusers, but I do suspect that the number of abusers who have not been abused themselves may be relatively...

Apparently, this is true of bulimia as well - vomiting causes the release of endorphins.

There is a lot of new research on the brain-body connection and the effect of trauma on the brain and the body. The polyvagal theory talks about windows of tolerance - when you're outside of your window of tolerance you can either go into hyperarousal or hypoarousal - or swing from one to the...

Have you considered that the nightmares may be caused by the medications you're on? Psych meds are funny things - you can be on them for a long time and suddenly they'll stop working or suddenly you'll experience a side effect you hadn't experienced in the past. You mentioned Seroquel -...

I would ask yourself the following questions: Are you stable? Are you safe (is your living situation free from abuse, do you have food, electricity, etc.)? Can you self-regulate? Have you developed distress tolerance skills? Are you using maladaptive coping mechanisms (drinking, cutting...

Been there, did that, got the commitment papers to prove it. I concur with everyone else who's commented - it's a slow, individual process. My experience has been similar to the one @Vandya describes - I need to be in charge of how much and when to disclose, I need an EXPERIENCED, highly...

And if I get upset about the child in Palestine, does that mean I don't care about the Syrian refugees or the airport shooting in Ft. Lauderdale or the death of my pet? See, the cool thing about the human brain is that it can process many different things at once and (at least for some of us)...

This thread has been on my mind the past couple of days, so I thought I would respond. I do think language is important - how we communicate what's going on, what the words mean, what connotations they have. For example, it was very important to me to understand the difference between being...

Sensorimotor Psychotherapy is Pat Ogden's work (Link Removed) - it's somatic (body-based) therapy. I did some work with a therapist using the book (which is HUGE and very heavy - both in weight and content). I think it's a really good approach to treating trauma - unfortunately the therapist I...

I am quoting your entire post, because it confuses me. I see a real disconnect between your first paragraph, where you seem to understand the difference between the "normalization" of the use of derogatory names for groups of people (where the intent - implicitly or explicitly - is to degrade...

This is absolutely fascinating - and so much of what folks have said resonate with me. I do think it was related to safety through depersonalization. As I said, it really hasn't been an "issue" for years, but it interesting and healing to make sense of my behaviors in the past - makes them...

Understood - and the only reason I brought up that thread was, in reading it, it brought back these memories of how I used to both see myself and refer to myself. I have no desire to join in the other conversation...it was simply a catalyst to this conversation. I apologize if it came across...

At the time of the original "guilting", I was not in a place where I could really be see the larger picture, but the guilt did help keep me alive. It's interesting to me, because both views are true (or maybe even the same), they just feel so very different - and I suppose a lot has to do with...

When I was at probably my rock bottom in terms of suicidal ideation/intent/attempts, my therapist "used" guilt to try to keep me alive. Basically, he pulled the "kid" card - and was very much upfront about it - told me that I would damage them for life if I committed suicide (and he also told...

I was reading a couple of posts where it has come up about using "I" versus "we" and the one that was locked actually caused me to remember something that I hadn't remembered in years and years....and since the thread is locked, I am posting it here. Many many years ago (probably over 25...

I think it is the nature of humans to try to make sense of the world. And, if one were able to see the world as it truly is, it does "make sense" - it may not be "fair" or "right" or "good", but it makes sense. I think the concept of karma applies here. Not the pop culture version of "Karma...

One of my therapists explained to me that suicide ideation is a "flight" response - a coping mechanism - an extreme one, yes, but not irrational. This has really helped me reframe a lot of my thinking around my own suicidal thoughts. It's taken away a lot of the shame and self-recrimination...

My ability to dissociate, along with a tendency to be in total denial during life-threatening situations, was extremely helpful when I had cancer. A number of people commented on how nonchalant I was while I was being treated.

Indeed. I had a therapist who claimed to specialize in trauma. When she finally agreed that I was stable enough, she told me she had borrowed a book on treating trauma from another therapist (it was Edna Foa's Prolonged Exposure for PTSD - and this was after I told her I wouldn't do exposure...

Like the some of the others who have posted in this thread, I needed to learn a lot of skills before I could actually start working specifically with my trauma(s). However, I don't think it's an either/or. I found that by learning distress tolerance/self-soothing, grounding and emotional...