I've been working with a likable, empathetic therapist for over a year now. I like them very much. I began seeing them because they were trained in EMDR and also accepted my insurance. They practice 'Attachment-Focused EMDR', a variation that spends a lot of time on early life trauma and relational attachments. Good emphasis for at least part of the trauma I'm dealing with. It's been helpful, over the long run, though definitely not easy or always pleasant.
I've read a bit of Francine Shapiro, and in my sessions there seems to be a deficit of emphasis on fully bookending the bilateral stimulation with sufficient grounding, resourcing and, at the end, effective containers. T tends to just dive right into the BLS (we use hand buzzers) during the course of us discussing triggers etc. The times in between sessions, since I began, have often been tumultuous for me, and I've gone into some sessions feeling good and come out with depression that leaves me unable to get out of bed for weeks at a time-- esp as weekly sessions to install and further process keep it going. I've addressed this repeatedly with T, hoping to establish some clear structure and barriers about not diving into the BLS without the resources that're hopefully going to keep me sane. (We're dealing with C-PTSD from sustained trauma, as well as multiple single-incident violent traumas, so there's a lot of interconnected stuff that bubbles up once we start digging).
For other EMDR recipients, does this seem like standard operating procedure to you-- that therapist just wants to dive into the processing, and seems to be impatient about laying the groundwork for in-session and between-session safety?
There's a huge difference for me during, immediately after, and between sessions when we've spent real time on the resourcing and containers: I feel well more in control, and not like I've walked into that room in "Poltergeist" where all the objects are spinning and flying around. I've emphasized this repeatedly, and T definitely means well-- but it's like they've been trained in a more loose, off-the-cuff EMDR that I'd expected to be the standard.
I've read a bit of Francine Shapiro, and in my sessions there seems to be a deficit of emphasis on fully bookending the bilateral stimulation with sufficient grounding, resourcing and, at the end, effective containers. T tends to just dive right into the BLS (we use hand buzzers) during the course of us discussing triggers etc. The times in between sessions, since I began, have often been tumultuous for me, and I've gone into some sessions feeling good and come out with depression that leaves me unable to get out of bed for weeks at a time-- esp as weekly sessions to install and further process keep it going. I've addressed this repeatedly with T, hoping to establish some clear structure and barriers about not diving into the BLS without the resources that're hopefully going to keep me sane. (We're dealing with C-PTSD from sustained trauma, as well as multiple single-incident violent traumas, so there's a lot of interconnected stuff that bubbles up once we start digging).
For other EMDR recipients, does this seem like standard operating procedure to you-- that therapist just wants to dive into the processing, and seems to be impatient about laying the groundwork for in-session and between-session safety?
There's a huge difference for me during, immediately after, and between sessions when we've spent real time on the resourcing and containers: I feel well more in control, and not like I've walked into that room in "Poltergeist" where all the objects are spinning and flying around. I've emphasized this repeatedly, and T definitely means well-- but it's like they've been trained in a more loose, off-the-cuff EMDR that I'd expected to be the standard.