Potential New Therapist

[Lotis]

So I may have found someone who specializes in trauma; a PsyD (well she says it is a growing specialty) I don't want to get my hopes up because it has been a really trying experience searching for a new therapist. This person says she is Level I and II trained in EMDR and Sensorimotor Psychotherapy - what the heck does that mean? I know what EMDR is but not sure about the Levels I and II and I looked up Sensorimotor Psychotherapy but couldn't find much about it. Anyone know?
Anyway - I contacted her initially through e-mail and she stated that she doesn't generally communicate via email due to confidentiality concerns.... should that concern me? Does it mean she is not communicative via other methods besides the phone?
I have to call today to discuss further appointment and availability. I am really scared. There is a part of me screaming saying don't do it - you don't need therapy we've got along without one for the past 4 years we don't need anyone....but I know that isn't true. I know I should be in therapy and will benefit from it. I am just scared :poop: to get involved with another therapist and be let down.
Also, I can't find much about her on the internet which could be a good thing or a bad thing. Some therapists are out there with their pictures and emails....others nothing. I wonder which is better? I am so over thinking this and hate to be rambling on. :sorry:
~L

 

[Crow]

My therapist is a psychiatrist that does not treat with medicine - only Somatic psychotherapy. Have a feeling it's probably similar to whatever sensorimotor therapy is. Since my T is a doctor, she has different standards for communication than most therapists. Only phone and snail mail communication. I used to hate that but it's worked out well with my direct communication avoidance. I've come to value her boundaries....kind of been a behavior I've learned to mirror.

Good luck with your consultation! Takes a lot of courage to reach out for help. And it's totally worth the reaching!

 

[Friday]

This pretty much sums up EMDR level 1 (below). By current standards, she'd only be about half trained, and not allowed to ID herself as certified in EMDR. But if she's been practicing EMDR for 10 years, that also doesn't mean she's incompetent, nor misrepresenting herself, if she was trained prior to 2007.

Prior to 2007, the EMDRIA standards for EMDR Basic Training came in the form of an independent two-part training model. EMDR therapists who are trained prior to 2007 would, therefore, identify having been trained at Level One or Level Two. Each workshop took a weekend to complete and in contrast to the current training standard, did not include any consultation hours in between trainings. The EMDR therapist was trained in EMDR and able to identify him or herself as being EMDR trained with just the Level One training, as the Level Two training was not required. Nevertheless, please keep in mind that being Level Two EMDR trained was strongly recommended. From a client’s perspective, Level Two heightened the EMDR therapist’s understanding, provided him or her with additional tools within the EMDR model, and provided skills for processing more complex trauma cases. If your EMDR therapist chose to complete both trainings, he or she would have completed 34 training hours in EMDR.

After 2007, as I previously mentioned in last week’s article, the EMDRIA training standards for EMDR practitioners evolved. What was once Level One and Two EMDR training became a Basic Training model, one that required the completion of both independent trainings in order to identify oneself as having completed the Basic Training that now constitutes 50 total training hours

EMDR: Levels of Training

EMDRIA Basic Training Overview US Basic Training Overview | EMDR Institute – EYE MOVEMENT DESENSITIZATION AND REPROCESSING THERAPY

Advanced EMDR Training, is by specialty workshops revolving around single topics, and doesn't have a single syllabus or common number of hours. Attachment trauma protocols, childhood trauma protocols, chronic trauma protocols, recent critical trauma protocols, etc. Advanced Specialty Application Workshops | EMDR Institute – EYE MOVEMENT DESENSITIZATION AND REPROCESSING THERAPY

***

Purely as an opinion:

I would personally be leery of doing EMDR around any of the advanced training topics, if my therapist has not been trained in them. Ditto, that they had neither done the second half of the initial training, nor kept up on their continuing education, also gives me pause. EMDR is only one treatment modality for trauma & PTSD, however. So it doesn't give me pause about someone as a trauma therapist, per se, just that I -myself, with my trauma history- wouldn't* want to do EMDR with them.

Spoiler: Asterisk // ETA

ETA ... Because I don't say what I would/wouldn't do unless I've actually been in that situation:

* I had an amaaaaazing marriage & family therapy counselor who was being certified in EMDR several years ago who wanted to use me for his clinical hours. Would have been totally free, but wasn't even tempting. Flat out told him no, on more than one occasion. A few years later, fully certified with advanced training? He called me to thank me. He's STILL not up to the level of being able to handle complex trauma / refers his complicated people to people more experienced than he is, doesn't expect to be for several years. He just had no clue when he was first asking me how bad of an idea it was. No worries, man! He really is a brilliant therapist, he just wasn't expert in all modalities. No one is. I'm grateful for my time with him (very). And we're both grateful I said "No! Nope! Not gonna happen!"

 

[Crow]

Great points @Friday !

 

[Lotis]

This all makes me so nervous. I am trying to find someone who specializes in trauma or at least has a background with dealing with trauma patients. I have tried EMDR years ago with a really BAD therapist (at the time I didn't know how bad she was)...so I am very leery to try it again. Trust me I would not just jump into anything right away. I don't even know if EMDR would be helpful to me. I am curious about the Sensorimotor Psychology and what that is all about.
I just want to find someone who is adequately trained in adult "survivors" of trauma, who won't disappear on me, and who I am comfortable with. It really isn;t asking much but seems like an insurmountable task!
@Friday I really have no idea how long she's been doing EMDR all she said was that she is Level I and II Trained. I also don't know if she has kept up with her training. I guess that would be something I ask? Along with how often she does EMDR? Is she certified? There are allot of I don't knows right now since I haven't even spoken to her. So we will see. But like I stated above I don't even know if I want to attempt EMDR again.
~L

 

[BOAG]

I contacted her initially through e-mail and she stated that she doesn't generally communicate via email due to confidentiality concerns.... should that concern me? Does it mean she is not communicative via other methods besides the phone?

This caught my attention, as it came up with my therapist last session (I've been seeing him on and off for the last 9 years and we have a great relationship). Anyway, he said that they are supposed to discourage email communications (except for things like scheduling appointments) due to HIPPA confidentiality issues and that emails are not necessarily secure. So he told me I should text him rather than email. But sometimes my emails are really long and there's no way I'm going to text all that nonsense! I asked if I could still send emails with issues about Someone Who Isn't Me, and he seemed okay with that.

So maybe that's why she doesn't want to communicate by email? I think it would be an okay thing to ask her about, if that is an issue for you.

 

[StellaBlue]

Sensorimotor Psychotherapy is Pat Ogden's work (Link Removed) - it's somatic (body-based) therapy. I did some work with a therapist using the book (which is HUGE and very heavy - both in weight and content). I think it's a really good approach to treating trauma - unfortunately the therapist I was working with flaked on me. I have since switched to a therapist who is well trained in Somatic Experiencing, which has been really really helpful.

 

[Nessa7]

I popped "Sensorimotor Psychotherapy" into an academic search engine. @CrowFeather is right. It is a kind of somatic psychotherapy. An article says that it is especially effective for PTSD symptoms. It is intended to address the physical movements and sensations that occur when reacting to trauma. They say that it includes things like breathing exercises, thinking about how different parts of your body communicate, tracking sensations when feeling positive and negative emotions, using props, and exploring somatic actions like walking, kicking, jumping etc. It is intended to be used with talk therapy.

There doesn't seem to be too significant of a difference between the term your T used and somatic psychotherapy. It says that it is related to the Hakomi method, which seems to get a lot more hits when you search for it.

 

[Lotis]

It says that it is related to the Hakomi method, which seems to get a lot more hits when you search for it.

Thank you I will take a look as well and see what I can find!
~L

 

[Lotis]

Sooo I was doing some research and found a few key points I wanted to share that I discovered through searching for Sensorimotor Psychotherapy
"Therapists trained in sensorimotor therapy techniques can help an individual begin to heal by helping that person re-experience, in a safe environment, the physical sensations associated with a traumatic event."
I think I would be VERY cautious and not want to do that....this I would assume means forcing a flashback and going through the body sensations caused by the trauma - :sick:

"Sensorimotor psychotherapy helps the individual in therapy re-experience the traumatic event in a safe environment and carry out any previously unfulfilled actions in order to achieve a feeling of completion and closure. Details of the trauma do not necessarily need to be recalled for the treatment to be effective."

I wonder how effective this would be for abuse traumas? Especially ones that occurred at a young age - maybe at a time when verbal skills were not even developed.

I also wonder how this would work with someone who dissociates and can no longer feel their body. Sounds like this technique would take a great deal of time for the patient to I would think that I would need allot of time to feel safe enough to do this. I would also have to get to a point where I can stay present and try this technique. Also, I hate body memories - I can't imagine sitting with them and getting through them for a certain period of time without vomiting or freaking out!

With that being said I also wonder if this could help with self injury especially if the response to body memories is to self injure.

Allot to think about and research here.

~L

 

[Crow]

I wonder how effective this would be for abuse traumas?

I was considered treatment resistant until I started this type therapy. It's the best thing that's happened in my life. Key is a trusting therapeutic relationship and learning to trust your body. I've had less flashbacks in the traditional meaning doing this therapy and it's reconnected me to my body. Highly recommend to trauma survivors.

As far as staying present, it's a continual give and take - dissociate come back dissociate. It's gentle and slow.

 

[Lotis]

Thanks @CrowFeather for the feedback...now if she'd only call me back :oops: