EMDR Lashback - When EMDR Goes Wrong

[becvan]

I have stickied this thread, as people keep asking about EMDR. Please read the whole thread and follow any links given to find all the information you are looking for!

Thanks,
bec

 

[anthony]

I must agree with maus, in that EMDR is contraversial, it is radical by some means, though it does and is helping a lot of people. Yes, it is doing a lot more damage, though that is not necessarily the technique itself, but more the person delivering the technique. EMDR simply "IS NOT" for those with multiple trauma or life long trauma, clear as that, and the originators of EMDR make no mistake about that. It does help a lot of people with one or two traumas only, but is not for someone who has possibly hundreds and or thousands of constant traumas within their life.

If you fit the "IS NOT" criteria, then you should not consider EMDR, regardless what your therapist or EMDR specialist says, or is trying to prove; yet you should seek more along the lines of CBT for prolonged trauma, as its not as invasive nor does it have the consequences EMDR can and does have, ie. releasing too much trauma to cause brain damage. CBT doesn't cause brain damage because the person brain is limited and controlled by them, thus the most that can come out is only that to push towards suicide, yet not brain damage. All therapies have risks, and some might say "suicide", and get worried, but suicide is still a choice, brain damage through EMDR is not, that is the difference. One the person controls, the other they do not.

EMDR specialists are trying to push the boundaries beyond what its capabilities are, trying to make bring it to the same level as say CBT is used, yet it will never be nor should be compared to another therapy, as each therapy has its unique usefulness. CBT and exposure therapy is the primary one used for PTSD because it has the proven long term effects needed for a sufferer to arm themselves with the required skills to manage PTSD themselves and manage their lifestyle. EMDR is a bandaid type therapy that often does not have the long term benefits CBT does when your talking multiple trauma.

 

[becvan]

Yeah, everything Anthony said!

(he always explains it better!)

bec

 

[FMXrider]

I’m really glade i read this. My therapist said he wanted to try EMDR with me. i didn't know wut it really was. I knew kinda what it is but ... Yea. Looking for things on EMDR is how i found this site actually. I’m thinking now I should tell him this week I don’t want too and that I need to tell him about some things he don’t know yet. I’ve only been seeing him for a couple months since changing from my last.

 

[anthony]

Yer, it has its pro's and con's like everything.... for some, not for others.

 

[Deleted member 487]

CBT? Ya got me confused, Anthony.

 

[anthony]

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)

 

[Deleted member 487]

Hmmm. Never heard of it before. So now I'm really confused. I have heard the bad stuff from vets about using EMDR for multiple trauma, and since I have multiple trauma I don't want to risk making it any worse. How do I cure my PTSD now?

 

[anthony]

CBT is what you do with therapists basically... where you divulge information and talk through your problems, find solutions, thought, technique to help you overcome, compared to any technique in which your brain loses control. CBT basically is the safest method and has the proven overall long term benefit opposed to all other treatments presently. EMDR is good for some, very bad for others. EMDR is not good for vets or multiple trauma victims generally speaking.

 

[Deleted member 93]

CBT has done wonders for me but it is a very long term treatment I still use. The good thing is that you "retrain" you mind so you do not readily slip once you start to catch on. There are many examples on the net that simplify what you learn to give you a idea how it works. It sounds simple but it does work well!

 

[Deleted member 487]

When I deal with a counselor and he/she wants to do EMDR, what do I do or say? Last one I had talked about it, and when I said no way (because of what I have heard vets say about it), she said then I'm not trying to get better.

If she screws it up because of the multiple trauma, what will happen to me?

 

[anthony]

You may end up permanently damaged if she screws it up. The decision is yours, though that is frog shit if a therapist says "your not trying to get better if you don't try x treatment." A therapists job is to use a range of treatments, because you will never find one to blanket everyone. Instead a therapist uses a range off options, methods and determinations uniquely to each person in order to help them. Because you don't want to risk brain damage, does not mean you do not want to get better. The therapist should simply use CBT techniques instead of EMDR. No great big issue that one, unless they obviously aren't conversant in the treatment to begin with and are trying to push guilt in order to find guinea pigs to experiment upon.