Emdr at home? self-administerd emdr - do you do it?

[Nessa7]

Personally, I'd look into bilateral stimulation instead of self-EMDR. Bilateral stimulation has better material available. Additionally, the material you find is more likely to be made by a trained professional. Now, bilateral stimulation is being used to treat anxiety generally. Self-EMDR isn't the popular term.

 

[grit]

Hi Sophy,
I think it is always nice to have someone or somebody to help us and I think and belief you have the ability to determine that or couse - this goes without saying.

I also want to support you for believing in yourself. There are many many ways of recovering from trauma and not one way fits everybody and if you truly believe you can do this (and you did before)...good for you.

I am commenting because it is also a very western way of thinking that therapy is the only way to heal trauma. That is not the case for all.

Be safe. Be happy. Be healthy and please let us know how it is going if you feel it.

 

[Freida]

No No No No No!!!!

I can barely come out of emdr with my Ts help. If I tried it without her I would probably be suicidal.
I think it really depends on the trauma you are trying to process. If it's a small trauma and you have really good coping and self care skills it might be possible. If you have major or multiple traumas I would only try it with guidance from a T
Please make sure you know what you are getting into. Maybe do a couple of rounds with an EMDR therapist and then move to doing it at home?

 

[Deleted member 47099]

So, umm, I didn't realise I was actually asking anything controversial... :eek:

10 years ago, I was told that it was fine to use EMDR myself/ at home for anxiety and triggers...

I'm really suprised to hear that the general consensus seems to be "OMG don't do it" and if that's the general consensus these days, I'm okay with that...!

Personally, I'd look into bilateral stimulation instead of self-EMDR. Bilateral stimulation has better material available. Additionally, the material you find is more likely to be made by a trained professional. Now, bilateral stimulation is being used to treat anxiety generally. Self-EMDR isn't the popular term.

With this, I'm not actually sure what the difference would be? Isn't doing EMDR by yourself = "bilateral stimulation" ?

There's over 17,000 google hits for "EMDR" and "self-administered" and the inventor of EMDR, Francine Shapiro even wrote a book called "Getting Past Your Past: Take Control of Your Life with Self-Help Techniques from EMDR Therapy" so I'm truly surprised by the concern raised by my question.

I'm honestly not sure how to reply to the concern, other than to say that obviously everyone should do what works for them and what is safe for them.

I will continue using self-administered EMDR/ bilateral stimulation, because it's always been helpful for me and I've not experienced problems with it.

My initial question was about "who else uses this" and "do you have any tips" so I'm not sure how to participate in a discussion of "is this dangerous" and "what are the pros and cons"...

If it's okay, I think I'll just kinda bow out of the discussion at this point, because I don't know what else to say/ contribute to it...

 

[The Albatross]

Nope. (Self administered EMDR do you do it) not advised for a reason.