Comprehensive Q&A With Francine Shapiro, Inventor Of Emdr

[Knak]

Therapy is hard as Hell!

I am curious about the feelings you have because I couldn't describe mine as the same. This is just my curiosity so you don't have to answer if you don't want to.

What is the part that is so extremely horrible if I'm not being too personal. Is the topic too painful to think about? Does the therapist use tappers or how does he/she do bilateral stimulation to switch between R and L brain?

I've usually heard very strong reactions like yours. I do remember at the beginning I used to sigh when she came to get me and didn't look forward to it but that changed after a while.

 

[Still Standing]

Thank you for this thread and the article by Shaprio. It is timely, as EMDR is to start in my treatment. I am intimidated by it and and scared. So, I am trying to educate myself on what it is and how people respond to it. I also downloaded Francine's book "Getting Past Your Past with Self-Help Techniques from EMDR Therapy". Has anyone read this book and did it help you as you move forward in therapy? I feel like I am about to step off the edge of the cliff...

 

[RussellSue]

I own Getting Past Your Past by Francine Shapiro. I had hoped to read it all before starting EMDR but it looks like I am starting EMDR next week.

I am having a LOT of traumatic responses to my current living/relocation situation. Since I was homeless at 12 with no permanent home until adulthood, it makes a lot of sense that I would. I also bought a home at 25 and stayed there for 11 years, so a lot of this was a non-issue for a long time. Without meaning to, my husband helped that can of worms open 5.5 years ago by helping me sell my home and it hasn't been sealed back up. We have moved over and over again and I have yet to really feel stable in my home.

My therapist acknowledged that it isn't ideal to do EMDR while my situation remains unsettled but also thinks that if addressing my childhood homelessness issues were to help, I might not have a heart attack before the dust settles on my situation.

I am glad this thread is here because my book is somewhere in storage. I'll be looking at it in more detail than I have before embarking on this totally new leg of my treatment.

Thanks.