Sufferer Child Abuse And Incest Survivor

[janb]

I spent my whole life compartmentalizing trauma, and now emdr wants me to put trauma in a box? It helped for awhile, but doesn't seem to last. Has anyone else had this experience?

 

[missmary]

You know Jan, my first therapist told me she wanted try EMDR with me- but I left her before we had the chance because she just wasn't a good fit for me. Now I'm in CBT and it's been going great. We have not even talked about EMDR, so I think he doesn't do it. But my friend who is a therapist swears it helps her clients SO much!

Frankly, I have a hard time with it. The idea of re-writing my past experience is some how invalidating and I feel like I'd rather live with the painful memories, in their tidy little compartments, knowing that the hurt I have is valid and for a reason; than lie to myself and feel the same way but to a different story. Or maybe I don't understand the concept of EMDR.

My intention is to provide you with the support of, I believe, that you feel this way because you probably are like me in that you struggle to let go of your trauma. Something about it makes me feel like it's invalid and then therefore my behaviors durring all this time were...for nothing or irrational.

I can't help you directly with your question as I have not had EMDR done, but I can empathize and let you know that you aren't alone in how you are feeling and that some of us just can't buy the treatment that's being offered.

Are you getting regular therapy as well as the EMDR therapy?

 

[Zad]

I spent my whole life compartmentalizing trauma, and now emdr wants me to put trauma in a box? It helped for awhile, but doesn't seem to last. Has anyone else had this experience?

This does not sound like full EMDR therapy to me. The idea of "putting it into a box" is only a technique for closing down any distress until the next session. But you should also have been taught other techniques to deal with things between sessions. You also don't "lie to myself and feel the same way but to a different story"

The goal of EMDR therapy is to access and process the memories causing symptoms. When a trauma occurs it can overwhelm the brain's ability to process the information and the event gets "stuck" with the negative emotions, thoughts and body reactions. The research on EMDR shows that a single trauma can be processed within 3-6 sessions. It doesn't erase the memory or invalidate it. It let's the brain do the job it was meant to do. EMDR is one of three therapies used by the Department of Defense. Unlike the other therapies, you don't need to do homework for it to be effective.

You can read about the therapy and learn techniques to help immediately in: Getting Past Your Past: Take Control of Your Life with Self-Help Techniques from EMDR Therapy. It's written for laypeople and clinicians by the person who developed the therapy (Shapiro)

 

[souljah]

I have had emdr 2 times and have got to say it was very helpful of shattering the cement layer of trauma. Lots changed for me afterwards, in an empowering way. From my experience, you don't loose memory you can probably now just file some of it much better. For me it was akin to having a bad virus running in your computer so no matter how good your computer, or software or you are your computer runs slowly, or weirdly and just crashes whenever. Until you remove that virus nothing you do to try to "fix it" will work. In my case one (of probably many) viruses I worked was "not good enough" which I have got to say has been quite liberating to be free of.Hope this helps somewhat , goodluck.

 

[Aqib]

I'm not a big fan of EMDR. The empirical evidence supporting its effectiveness is quite weak. CBT on the other hand has impressive rates of success in treating not just anxiety disorders, but also mood disorders.

If you are seeing a mental health professional, remember that you are the one in control. If you don't feel comfortable with EMDR, you need to voice your opinion. If you don't like CBT, that's okay too. There are other options available for you. You and your therapist/psychiatrist will try all those things until something works. And if nothing works, you can find another therapist and start again. But the point is you will get help.

 

[Mercy]

I have tried many therapy modalities over the years. Each one had its place. Each therapist I saw over these past twenty years had her own gifts to bring to our work. None of them could prevent flashbacks.

Full body flashbacks are embarrassing to me, if anyone sees them. I get little to no warning. In CBT, I have worked at identifying triggers and defusing them. Some were successfully tuned down, dialed down so that anxiety or panic attacks replaced some of the full flashbacks. I can hide severe anxiety most of the time, with a little help from the Tena lady.

Now I am working with an expert EMDR therapist. It is very important that people see EMDR therapists who are well trained. I was blessed to have an EMDR instructor take me on.

The first few EMDR sessions we worked on making an inner safe place. When we have worked with a specific trauma, EMDR seems to work to bring parts of the memory which have been stored in different parts of the brain together. For example, in CBT I could narrate the trauma cogently as I saw it but there never was any sound or remembered smell. EMDR seems to bring things together. So far so good.

 

[souljah]

I use all kinds of modalities to work with this, emdr was only one of the many things to do. Everyone is an individual and needs to remember to find what work for you. I have found that no one thing works for me, as this psdt shifts and changes as so do I. It's all a journey, full of twists and turns sometimes it's not about the destinations especially when dealing with pstd. love to all x

 

[Mercy]

Very wise, Souljah. PTSD symptoms are different everyday and the material they bring up changes how we deal with it. At least for me, it has been a long and arduous journey. The graph line looks like it has occasional up spikes and many deep valleys, even a few canyons and dark pits. I'm glad we have this site for all of us in need of support and able to give support. Anthony had a miraculous idea for this to happen, Much thanks Mr.A.

 

[souljah]

Have not had the pleasure of speaking with Anthony but must be an compasionate person to get this comprehensive site together. Big thanks :)