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Developmental trauma, C-PTSD. 18 years of periodic hell. Whatever it's called, it will always be a part of me. No matter how much therapy I have, no matter how much progress I feel I make, I still have a hidden injury that's always there. People on the outside, all they see is a strong...

Hi Red Tree, thank you for reaching out. I did EMDR for several months and also live with constant triggers. What has worked best for me, even before getting too deep into EMDR, is to learn coping techniques for my triggers and ways to protect myself in situations that are unavoidable, much like...

I am in my early 20's and my T is roughly 10 years older than me. It feels like a really good age spread because it's not too much older than me to understand the place I'm at but far enough along to have some experience.

Thanks so much everyone. It really helps to have your opinions and personal experience.

I've been doing EMDR for about 5 months now, working through complex trauma over a period of 10-15 years. It just feels like I'm tired of the process, I know it's effective and notice positive outcomes, but I wonder if staying with it will bring additional improvement or just make me more...

I'm so confused by the progression of my EMDR. I resumed work with my therapist of 3+ years after a few months of termination, agreed to start EMDR for trauma resolution, being told it would be a much more efficient process than I was used to. A few months later, and after revealing some...

As weird as it sounds, I had never really made the link between this behavior and reestablishing safety. But it makes sense now. I do find myself driving by my T's office on especially hard days, or when I'm dreading an upcoming session, even when I know he's not there.

I've exhausted the university support option after several years because of session limits. I've been forced to stretch out sessions to every 2-4 weeks in the last year or so for financial and scheduling reasons. It's also a way I'm trying to reduce my dependence on therapy. Whether it's going...

It's so infrequent because of both of our availabilities. It's definitely not ideal. And I appreciated your suggestion of the hand vibrators, I tried that previously but it was too distracting and actually pulled me away from my feelings.

I appreciate the input from you both. We're only able to meet for sessions every other week with no contact in between so even though we've extensively covered coping skills I was just emotionally devastated. I've done a lot of research on EMDR and it looks very promising but going through it is...

I had a session of EMDR earlier this week, not my first but my first with this therapist and it's been several months since my last EMDR, but I really struggled both during and after the session. We used the bilateral stimulation with finger movement, but the close proximity of my therapist...

I'm struggling with something I can't understand. I'm emotionally trapped in abusive familial relationships...why? Because I'll feel like a failure if I throw aside the only people who've been in my life for 23 years? I'm subjecting myself to ongoing pain and crises that I grew up around and was...

Can you explain what you mean by that last statement?

Whenever trauma or difficult emotions are brought up by my T, I get lost in the thoughts in my head. Sometimes I stay present, sometimes I don't. I HATE silence but don't know how to suggest the best way to be brought out of it by my therapist. Obviously he can't read my mind, and sometimes him...

I've been with my current therapist for nearly 3 years, mainly helping to manage depression/stress, difficult family relationships, and skirting the surface of trauma work. After a few months away, I'm back with a new focus of going into deeper trauma work including EMDR but not for a couple...

@anthony I feel it's wrong to imply that those who have been more blatantly abused than I are biased towards calling anything abuse because of their own experiences. I can't imagine anyone who has been through abuse wanting to have others joining their club, if anything they would wish it could...

I think your concerns may indicate the level of relationship you have with your therapist. If you feel like she may say the same things to other people, maybe you don't feel very personally connected? I do think some of it depends on how they were trained, however, I do think some people are...

I really respect and appreciate your comments but do struggle with the fact that some people look at it as sexual exploration given that it would put much of the responsibility onto me. For that to have been the case it would have meant that I had interest, which I didn't, or it would change the...

Depression for me is very comforting because it's familiar. I never really learned how to be happy so when I am it feels almost fake and is almost always ruined by something bad happening.

As I look around the site, I'm having a lot of guilt come up and questions about whether I've made something out of nothing. I get what some people say about the effects of an event being more important than what it is classified as, but what if I've been calling something abuse that really...

I have done about 30 sessions of group therapy specific to sexual assault survivors and I think an experience that is subjective. It's sort of a "what you put into it, you'll get out of it" scenario. Me personally, group was a good support tool and made me feel less isolated and an important...

I've struggled with letting people care for me and what I've been through, so maybe one of the biggest things has been learning how to be vulnerable with the few people I've learned to trust. Self care has been a huge (and reluctant) goal but I've come a long ways on that issue too. I still have...

Thank you all! I feel very supported and haven't had much of an opportunity to explore the site but hope to learn more before I meet with my therapist next week to discuss how to go forward. I feel very lucky to at least have a great T that keeps me stable.

Hi all, I am new to this forum but came upon it as I look to get help for PTSD. I have been in therapy for over 2 years related to CSA, depression, and anxiety and have recently been recommended for EMDR which has sent me on a fact-finding mission so I know what I'm embarking on. I struggle with...