Worried About Having Emdr - With Multiple Severe Trauma..

[intothelight]

Shellbell,

I have multiple traumas and also a lot of memory loss. I have not done EDMR, but I have benefited greatly from exposure therapy, CBT (EDMR is a form of CBT) and DBT. Each of these therapies have been done and I am still doing CBT and DBT, as it is a process that I find useful day in and day out.

They have become part of my "tools" for dealing with the stresses of daily life, and quite frankly they have all benefited me greatly to the point that I am enjoying life more days than not. Also, when PTSD symptoms do flair up they are a lot less intense and a much shorter duration.

There are a lot of therapies out there that are extremely effective, so continue to explore your options.

Just my .02.

Debbie

 

[anthony]

EMDR has come a long way since inception for PTSD, and it is extremely efficacious for PTSD. It should cause a spike in symptoms, if working correctly. Massive even, though manageable nonetheless.

The major problem was multiple trauma using EMDR, and the old, one rule fits all, approach. That is no longer the case nowadays, and EMDR is tailored. Multiple traumas can be handled extremely well, compartmentalising each one.

 

[Hashi]

Have to say I'm even more scared now though. I'm not going to cope with it and I don't have the emotional support around me that I need. My husband is good at the practical support, but crap with giving me emotional support and takes it personally when I get upset and irritable and feels sorry for himself. And I don't have any other family support. And I don't have the personal strength to go through all that.

I think I'm going to tell my therapist that I'm not doing it :(

Shellbell, I think it's wise to think about what you're ready for and set your own pace. Safety is really, really important when doing trauma work, and it would be counter-productive or even damaging to rush into something before you have enough resources in place to deal with what comes up.

I think in the end the resources have to be our own inner ones. The support of others is wonderful, if it's there, but we can't control it. Other people have their own ideas and anxieties and can't always know what we need (often we don't even know what we need!)

If you decide not to go ahead at this point, I'd recommend seeing that as a positive step in taking care of yourself and an opportunity to work on your personal strength and ways to stay safe mentally and emotionally through trauma work. Maybe you could talk with your therapist about approaches to this?

I'd also suggest that EMDR is one option and there are others. EMDR may be right for you, at the right time. It may be that a different approach would be better for you. I couldn't know, but it does seem to me that often people think this is their only hope apart from talk therapy, or they're strongly influenced by their therapist using this with most trauma clients. If you research other approaches along with EMDR and talk with your T about them, then if you do decide at some point to go ahead with EMDR it would be a positive choice, and I think that in itself would help you with the process.

 

[Shellbell]

Thank you Hashi. I did talk with my therapist last week about my concerns and she said that she will be taking it slowly, she will be checking as to when the time is right and do one session and then we will discuss it before doing anymore.

We'll be doing CBT including exposure therapy first, so will be a while before we get to EMDR as there is so many years of different periods of abuse by different people to go through.

She told me one lot of abuse is at the top end of the trauma scale. And that not all trauma is equal and not all abuse is equal and not all suffering is equal. She said one period of abuse is at the most severe end. She tells me I need to stop diminshing what I've been through. That was scary - especially as I have amnesia about most of it and feel emotionally numb when talking about it. Like it didn't happen to me, but someone else. Think I am still in denial about that.

Will be interesting to see how I go with EMDR for the worst stuff :eek:

 

[all_akimbo]

Yes. I highly recommend this treatment. It is fast and effective - at least it was for me. My current therapist does not use this technic and I have considered seeking a different T for that reason. It will likely make you tired. It might give you a headache. It feels like going downhill on a roller coaster, but it really works. I have the same identifiers and Trauma typa as you do. Hope this helps.