barefoot
MyPTSD Pro
I was supposed to start EMDR with a new therapist. We had three info gathering intake sessions in March/April and then I got Coronavirus mid-April and I haven’t yet made a full recovery. So, things have been on pause. I have a quick check-in call (not a session) with the therapist in a couple of weeks.
If I am not feeling well enough/ready to start at that point, she said she would need to close my file and then I would have to get in touch with the service again whenever I was ready, which would then mean going through the original assessments/waiting for a T availability etc again.
So, any thoughts around any of the following:
- My main post-Covid symptom now is fatigue. I don’t have any oomph. Any level of exertion - physical, mental, emotional - wipes me out. I am still napping most days. I feel...depleted. Also feel more emotional than usual - crying very easily at things on tv etc. Those of you who have done EMDR - would being low on energy and not physically 100% make EMDR much harder, do you think? Would I be best to wait until I’m feeling 100% though I have no idea how long that will take. Would starting while feeling depleted be a mistake or will it just mean I’ll probably just feel tired and need to rest after sessions?
- Initially, the T said we could start doing prep stage sessions online via video calls but that their policy was that the actual processing sessions would have to be done in-person. However, they have recently changed their policy and, due to Covid, will not be seeing clients face-to-face until 2021 so now the whole process is being moved to online. Although that is more convenient for me in some ways, I feel a bit concerned about doing EMDR processing with a T who isn’t used to doing it that way - and when they had a policy pre-Covid about not doing it that way because they thought in-person was best. Would be interested to hear of anyone’s experience with doing full EMDR on video calls.
- T is going on maternity leave early October. So, even if I decide to start soon she will be leaving in October. So, I will have a choice of a) whether to start with her and try to get all sessions in before she leaves or b) start with her - perhaps do the prep stage sessions with her - then switch to a new T to complete with or c) start with a new T from the get-go to ensure consistency of same T throughout. Any thoughts/experiences on this? From the three assessment calls I’ve had with her, I quite like this T - she seems nice enough. I am not any more excited about her than that, which is fine... I didn’t choose her, she was just assigned to me and so it’s not like I am super-invested in wanting to work with her specifically. So, it’s not like it will be a major emotional wrench to swap. On the other hand, we have done three pretty full-on info gathering sessions and she knows some recent contexts (eg me being unwell and a friend recently being killed) so, although I know she will do a handover to her colleague and pass on her notes on me, I do feel I would end up repeating stuff to bring the new one up to speak. Not a disaster, I know...it just feels a bit...irritating and tedious to go back over all the background stuff with someone new. And, I suppose it is possible that I won’t like/feel comfortable with the replacement T.
So, any views/suggestions around:
1) Start now or wait til I’m feeling fully recovered - though that could mean waiting months (both for my full recovery and to then go through the system again)
2) Full EMDR process online - good idea or anything to be aware/cautious of?
3) Which T to work with (or both)?
Feels like a big decision - when and how I approach this process - but I have no experience of EMDR so would really value any input.
Thank you!
If I am not feeling well enough/ready to start at that point, she said she would need to close my file and then I would have to get in touch with the service again whenever I was ready, which would then mean going through the original assessments/waiting for a T availability etc again.
So, any thoughts around any of the following:
- My main post-Covid symptom now is fatigue. I don’t have any oomph. Any level of exertion - physical, mental, emotional - wipes me out. I am still napping most days. I feel...depleted. Also feel more emotional than usual - crying very easily at things on tv etc. Those of you who have done EMDR - would being low on energy and not physically 100% make EMDR much harder, do you think? Would I be best to wait until I’m feeling 100% though I have no idea how long that will take. Would starting while feeling depleted be a mistake or will it just mean I’ll probably just feel tired and need to rest after sessions?
- Initially, the T said we could start doing prep stage sessions online via video calls but that their policy was that the actual processing sessions would have to be done in-person. However, they have recently changed their policy and, due to Covid, will not be seeing clients face-to-face until 2021 so now the whole process is being moved to online. Although that is more convenient for me in some ways, I feel a bit concerned about doing EMDR processing with a T who isn’t used to doing it that way - and when they had a policy pre-Covid about not doing it that way because they thought in-person was best. Would be interested to hear of anyone’s experience with doing full EMDR on video calls.
- T is going on maternity leave early October. So, even if I decide to start soon she will be leaving in October. So, I will have a choice of a) whether to start with her and try to get all sessions in before she leaves or b) start with her - perhaps do the prep stage sessions with her - then switch to a new T to complete with or c) start with a new T from the get-go to ensure consistency of same T throughout. Any thoughts/experiences on this? From the three assessment calls I’ve had with her, I quite like this T - she seems nice enough. I am not any more excited about her than that, which is fine... I didn’t choose her, she was just assigned to me and so it’s not like I am super-invested in wanting to work with her specifically. So, it’s not like it will be a major emotional wrench to swap. On the other hand, we have done three pretty full-on info gathering sessions and she knows some recent contexts (eg me being unwell and a friend recently being killed) so, although I know she will do a handover to her colleague and pass on her notes on me, I do feel I would end up repeating stuff to bring the new one up to speak. Not a disaster, I know...it just feels a bit...irritating and tedious to go back over all the background stuff with someone new. And, I suppose it is possible that I won’t like/feel comfortable with the replacement T.
So, any views/suggestions around:
1) Start now or wait til I’m feeling fully recovered - though that could mean waiting months (both for my full recovery and to then go through the system again)
2) Full EMDR process online - good idea or anything to be aware/cautious of?
3) Which T to work with (or both)?
Feels like a big decision - when and how I approach this process - but I have no experience of EMDR so would really value any input.
Thank you!