Never ending processing..?

[InsertCoinsHere]

I’m currently undertaking EMDR and I have been for the past several weeks, I’m finding that I’m processing so much that it’s very taxing.. each morning I wake up to various emotions and physical sensations that require processing to tolerate a day.

I haven’t felt I’ve ‘caught up to yesterday’ for years, I continually feel bag logged - potentially the brain unable to process due to trauma.. I just feel that EMDR is working however I am not getting any sort of reduction in symptoms that hinder my ability to fall asleep. I’ve had chronic insomnia for years, it can take me hours to fall asleep as my body feels too wired.. I’ve tried all sorts of music, meditations, body relaxations, sleep hygiene..

I feel I deeply need to rest to process and catch up however this is not happening.. just more and more to process, have others had similar experiences during EMDR or even just in general therapy or life?

Thanks

 

[Skywatcher]

I go through phases like that if I am dealing with a high SUDS emdr set. We have had to break my trauma down in order for me to handle the work. Also, a lot of work on tools, resourcing and coping was done before we started.

 

[Missycat]

Yea, and its difficult , i totally understand how hard it is for you. With my t we did flash emdr where i just quickly look into the memory and back out - back to safe place. This along with a lot of grounding and anchoring work helped, also for a while we switched to fortnightly sessions. Hope this is of use . Good luck, i hope you manage to sort something

 

[grit]

ooh boy I remember the overwhelming feelings - meta feelings that were all mixed up and unfamiliar not to mention the sleeplessness, the anxiety and the feeling like I am going mad if this goes on more than a week and no keep going.

I finally broke down and made a promise to myself that I will lessen the therapy from weekly to biweekly in three months if I am feeling this much. Yap! nothing changed and I stuck to my goal and lowered the sessions.

This may not work for you but it is possible you are uncovering faster than your mind, body and psychic can process.

The body never lies.

Listen to it.

 

[InsertCoinsHere]

This is a good point, I do feel lots of different memories and emotions are coming up.. it feels like my whole past is in the here and now.

I’ll chat with my therapist tomorrow about biweekly sessions, this may be the way forward in order to process. Or at least one week of EMDR and the other general integration chat.

 

[ILoveLife]

Trauma work takes time and it's not easy at all. There are ways to mitigate the bad effects of therapy, any therapy, and it involves high amounts of self care and productive activities that make you feel like you're contributing for your well being.
That's part of the processing too... continuing life and living - not allowing trauma to stop you on your tracks.

 

[Skywatcher]

For me, bi-weekly sessions would never work due to my attachment issues, however, we are doing this emdr so gradually, each week gets easier until we hit the next big chunk of horribleness. We have changed the approach week after week to suit what I can handle. Sometimes flash, sometimes fast forwarding her out of the scene. Sometimes looking at it head on. I am not one that is able to run the whole trauma all at once. There are people that can do that. I am in awe. I believe since my stuff started in childhood, that is why it needs to be so broken up. My younger self is so lost and scared. But it gets better! There was one week I felt at a breaking point and my T already knew before I walked in the door. She said, “we aren’t doing emdr today, btw.” That week off was truly soothing, I started to almost feel normal. So for some, maybe every other week can give you that!

 

[MrMoonlight]

Or at least one week of EMDR and the other general integration chat.

This is how my therapist and I have been managing my therapy time. She has been sensitive to my ability to cope and we only do EMDR when I can handle it and when there aren't more pressing issues to address. We installed a safe place initially and reinforced it when necessary so that I had somewhere to "go" when the stuff hit the fan. I needed this both in therapy and regular life. My "safe place" meditation/visualization combined with other meditations, breathing techniques, bilateral stimulation, aromatherapy, progressive muscle relaxation, and distraction were all really important for me to get through.