Emdr

[Ga5bby]

So my boss wants me to try EMDR. I'm not sure about this. I've just started PET. Which is making me mental. But she has done it for the last 12 years and says there is nothing like it. It's all just, so confusing right now.

If I did do the EMDR I would have to switch Ts. Which causes me anxiety. Yes, having one in town would be nice. The new place has a sliding fee scale, so the sessions would be next to nothing. That is the pros.

Cons. I would have to have a new, or another T. That would be extremely hard for me. I don't talk. Really. I think I've paid a couple thousand dollars to sit in the little room and stare at the wall. It's just been the last few months I've really been able to open up.

Advice?

 

[Jestadud]

I had EMDR and found it helpful.

The strange thing about it is that you don't really have to talk very much you just follow the movement and when it stops you say how you are feeling or anything that you might be thinking about at that time. A lot of it seems totally random and nothing that you might think associates with the trauma, but over time some of it starts to make a bit of sense in showing you how you came to develop Ptsd.

Knowing your enemy goes a long way to knowing how to defeat it, or at least how to live with it.

 

[AdamAnt]

Is it possible to have the EDMR T and still keep the one you have now? I'm not sure whether it would interfere with your PET therapy, maybe someone more qualified will come along and answer that one?

 

[Ga5bby]

I'm not sure if it is possible to do that, or if they will interfere with each other. I guess that's something I need to find out. I'm kinda scatter brain today with everything else that's going on... Thanks for the advice though!

 

[Jawn]

I know of other members of this site who see one T for EMDR and another T for regular therapy, so it's possible. I would start by asking your current T what their thoughts are on it.

 

[Deleted member 5760]

Jawn I think I know why, yup. My T told me it takes about 4 years here to properly train in the use of EMDR, and also that it absolutely has its place in certain cases. This is probably why you are being transferred to another professional for the EMDR, etc.

 

[AdamAnt]

Same think with Iam....she has the one T just for EMDR.

 

[Deleted member 5760]

The other thing is - I'm not really sure I'd go for EMDR just based on it being recommended or 'working' for someone else. I'd consult your T about this as he/she would be the one familiar with your case.

There are less 'intrusive' forms of therapy such as EFT. Which basically - to break it down simply, works on the premise of the brain having trouble doing two things at once. So while you're thinking of the negative thoughts you're tapping. The brain has trouble thinking about the thought and doing the tapping at the same time. It chooses to focus on the tapping motion, rather than the thought. Something simpler that is a possibility rather than jumping into the deep end that is EMDR.

Again. I'd consult your T about this - they are the one familiar with your case.

 

[KP the nut]

I'm due for my 2nd EMDR therapy tomorrow, although it will be the 4th session with the therapist. First meeting was an assessment to identify the correct therapy. At the next session (90 mins) he chatted through the process and helped me with some coping techniques. He uses the alternate hand tapping method. Sorry this is hard, can't go on just yet. Good Luck, Kath

 

[AdamAnt]

Sounds like your therapist is moving very quickly Kath...good to have you here, there's a lot of good information for you here, and many whose experience you can learn from.

 

[sky dancer]

I've used EMDR in my sessions with the therapist a number of times. We spent a lot of time just building a safe place to escape to and a mental support group before going into trauma reduction.

I've gotten better about telling him when I have had enough of it and need to come out.

We've used it to lessen the intensity of memories and flashbacks by processing the feelings associated with them, the terror, the helplessness, the lonliness, the rage, He's had me do things like project the memory onto a screen write large letters on it saying THIS IS A MEMORY, distort the image like it's a fun house mirror and so on.

We've also used EMDR to remember and create safe times and places.

We don't do it all the time. What happens to me is we do it and then I release alot of emotion throughout the week. When he knows it's been a touch one for me he calls me in the middle of the week too.

I trust him. And I have a loving partner who is very supportive. I can't believe how long it takes to heal from this. I've been in therapy for three years and my T says I'm in my core issues now, not that I'm sure what that means.

 

[just me here]

EMDR has so far robbed me of a lifetimes worth of rationalising and glossing over some stuff that I really didn't want to deal with again.

I think my "main" trauma is pretty obvious, and my reaction to that trauma is pretty easily seen and understood, but the EMDR therapist wants to save that for later and first go back to the events that set me up as fertile ground for PTSD to take root in later on in life.

It has made me a wreck, I cry, I am physically ill, I have trouble concentrating and unfortunately I have to be around the people that were responsible for the initial traumas in my life regularly now. They think I am the same guy they have known forever, the guy that had glossed over and rationalised away all of the things they did to me so long ago. They don't know I am now suddenly the angry kid they mistreated all over again, and I see no point in telling them about it.

I get the feeling that the first bit of EMDR is learning how effective it is at bringing up old memories just as raw as the day they happened, and knowing how much you can reprocess at a time.

Right now, I am chewing on more than I was ready for. I don't know if this will lead to taking smaller bites or getting better at chewing, but I am pretty sure I need to get to one or the other, soon.