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Has EMDR Worked For Anyone With Childhood Abuse PTSD?

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Dear Anthony,
EMDR has been a great success for me. I have been going to a seasoned and knowledgeable Therapist who has been trained in EMDR specifically. We have worked with talk therapy and EMDR. We usually use EMDR when something has come up during that week. I have done more work in the last 2 1/2 years that I did in the previous twenty. I am very grateful. She only uses her hand and I can see her face during the EMDR part. I don't think I would do well with a different modality.
 
Yes I have had success!!! I am doing a second bout of emdr sessions working on a different part from multiple traumas. You concentrate on one really bad memory and revisit it again and again every week for six weeks. It brings up lots of associated memories as well. After the emdr session do not have anything planned, or if possible not much for the next few days, as my re processing is very intense. You have to commit to the therapy. The problem with me is I dissociate when my adrenalin builds to a certain level. We just stop ground and then either continue ,talk or stop till next time. Hopefully by mid treatment my dissociation will let some really hidden stuff through.
 
I am 29 and have recently started EMDR for molestation incidents that happened when I was 10/11-13ish?? Not sure on my age. Somewhere in that range. Over a period of a couple years this took place. The offender was my cousin and he is 1-2 years older than me. It would happen when we would stay at my grandparents all together(his brothers and my sister too) or at my aunts house. The first EMDR session made me feel physically ill and panicked. My therapist did a good job of "re-setting" me before I left. I have been ok during my daily routines. Except for being around my husband. I have the areas I almost never want to be touched. I have only recently realized it stems from the molestation from when I was a child. But now I REALLY don't want to be touched. I can't be present during sex. I do it so he can have what he wants and pretend I'm ok. I just cover my face and body as much as possible and think about other things. I know it will get better. But not sure what to do while working through it.

Also, I resist and block things during EMDR and I don't want to. I don't know how to make the wall go away so I can "feel" my way through it all. I have spent almost 20 years building a wall to this and now I need to get back on the other side to repair the damage. How do I do that? I am so numb most of the time. I don't feel anymore. I do have some feelings during EMDR but I just feel like I am still blocking something and numbing out. I want to be able to totally focus and let go so that I can have success.

Before EMDR there were times when I had no issues with intimacy and then times I did. But now that I have started EMDR I am having constant issues. What do I do?
 
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It's normal during EMDR to be easily tired and overwhelmed by even the most mundane aspects of life. Our brains are making new pathways and having to rearrange old.

For me, I have found that I just keep going at the particular issue until the triggers are finally extinguished. Sometimes, it takes weeks. I shed duties/obligations and simplify my life down to what must be done. The rest can wait, and does.

Part of EMDR for me is to respect my brain's amazing ability to protect me from being overwhelmed by resisting and blocking material until it determines I am stable enough to handle it. I just notice it but I don't judge myself for it. It's all part of the process and nothing to beat ourselves up for.

I still have areas I don't want to be touched and that's ok. It's our bodies and we get to say what we are comfortable with. I did the "doing sex so he can have HIS needs met" and that only continued to serve as traumatic reenactment of me being victimized and powerless. It held me back for quite awhile in my recovery.

I hadn't told my therapist I was doing that because NO way did I want to discuss it. But he kept pushing the issue until I finally was frustrated enough to tell him to stop bringing it up. He was shocked and after we talked, that's when I was given a much more intense treatment plan.

Thankfully, my hubby is ok with us not having sex unless I want to and I'm feeling safe. Men can take care of their needs without us having to degrade and re-traumatize ourselves by essentially being someone's object.

Knowing what I know now, I'd never have been doing that if I had known how much it was hurting me, hurting our relationship, and making it impossible for me to feel safe enough in my home that I could feel safe in the therapy room. If I can't be present during sex, then I won't have sex. It's not healthy for my body nor my immune system nor my self-esteem to allow myself to be used like that anymore.

One of the essential first tasks of therapy is establishment of safety in all areas of our lives. Until that is fully in place, our brains remain on alert/protective status and cannot process our traumas deeply, I think.
 
One of the essential first tasks of therapy is establishment of safety in all areas of our lives. Until that is fully in place, our brains remain on alert/protective status and cannot process our traumas deeply,

My Ts take pretty much this same stance. They said it's clinically appropriate for me to not be having sex with my DH for now. As much as I've beat myself up for my failure to meet his needs...I see they're right. In truth, I'm honoring my relationship with my husband by ensuring that I move into that place of intimacy with him only when I can be present for it and not mentally harm myself in the process.

He's supportive, even though it's been really tough for him. But my T said it'll be easier for my DH as long as he sees me making progress toward our goal of real intimacy in the marriage. My T calls it "moving dirt"...so long as a person can see that progress is being made, that makes it easier to wait patiently.
 
Thanks. Nice to know I am not alone. II guess I should probably talk with my husband more about it. We have been together for 11 years and he still tries to touh my trigger areas even when I say no. He just doesn't understand and I've never reallyexplained....even though he knows what happened. It's just a struggle because I want to snuggle or whatever but just have a specific way that I feel ok. But it makes him mad that he can't snuggle how he wants to.

Just so new still. I have only done two EMDRs that focused on the tough event. I did 3 before focusing on setting positive and helpful events and people. I knew it would get worse before it got better but part of me thought I would be able to come home and jump in bed with him after the first one and be fine. :-(
 
About 6wks ago, my T asked me to consider EMDR. We have a long standing relationship, trust and he has spent countless hours teaching grounding and coping skills over the past 3yrs. I have multi layer trauma as well.

Change sucks for me, just the idea of EMDR sent me into a spiral of anxiety, worry, doubt, trust issues, attachment etc.

We walked through only about 15 min of EMDR just to get the lay of the land. Panicked, couldn't breathe.....and now we are at a stand still. I'm not saying it doesn't work, but for me, it's going to take significant time and security. It pains me to think people are trying it with new practitioners that they don't have relationships and skills with. Or with out adequate skills, you don't only need to know the grounding, but you need to access it quickly.

I want change like you, and a relationship with my husband....but I want both to be safe. My T warned me it might flop and if we did see success, it would take 8+ sessions per issue...
 
Sticking my two scents in here, even though I have only skimmed the posts! I think, like most therapies, it is...

It is my understanding that EMDR has been around for roughly 25 years now, is endorsed by the World Health Organization, the CDC, and the VA and so on. It was discovered in the 1970s, etc.
 
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