Dissociation during emdr every time - advice?

[Keen]

No matter which way we try to go about it, I dissociate EVERY time we start doing EMDR, and its getting very discouraging. My T says the goal is for me to be able to do EMDR while staying present. We've done lots of groundwork, learning things like safe place imagery, protective and other figures, grounding, breathing, etc. And yet, every time we start trying to do EMDR, I dissociate and/or alters come out.
Is there anyone else who has had this problem and found a technique or way to overcome it?

 

[LynnHol]

My husband has the same issue so they stopped the EMDR and are solely focusing on finding all the alters and they will eventually combine into one so they don’t feel the need to come forward. Until then, no trauma therapy. The therapist explained that this could be a VERY lengthy process.

 

[Missycat]

Hi @Keen , this absolutely resinates with me. It took me and my t a while to do emdr work as i would dissociate regularly, we did loads of grounding stuff too. What we eventually found worked was doing the processing in small manageable chunks for example i would recall the memory 6 seconds and then come out and then we would build up the time if i was staying present. Whilst it took longer to process some memories i found that i was able to manage and stay present more.
I wish you luck and hope you find something that works for you.

 

[Keen]

doing the processing in small manageable chunks for example i would recall the memory 6 seconds and then come out and then we would build up the time if i was staying present

Thanks for that idea, I'll run that by my therapist.

Thanks for your response!

solely focusing on finding all the alters

Did his therapist explain why finding the alters was necessary before processing? Is it not possible to do it when you have alters?

a VERY lengthy process.

I hear these four words a lot in therapy, not the cheerfullest thing to hear, I'm sure you and your husband can relate. It sucks how something that isn't your fault results in you struggling for a lengthy time to recover from it. I guess this is the same when someone hits you with their car too. This life can be hard.

 

[MyWillow]

Some more educated responses than I can give. I often walk into my T’s office and start to dissociate. Some days worse than others.

Our brains are incredible. Maybe yours knows that you need more safety? Listen to it xxx

 

[SinkorSwim]

My therapist gives me a stress ball to squeeze to help stay present. I do a technique called brainspotting which is similar to EMDR. When she moves the pointer closer to me she tells me to squeeze the stressball. It helps me to stay more present.

 

[Keen]

My therapist gives me a stress ball to squeeze to help stay present. I do a technique called brainspotting which is similar to EMDR.

Thanks for your reply!
I'm never heard of brainspotting before, I'll have to look it up.
I have a little fidget toy, maybe I could hold it during EMDR and see if that helps.