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Default Nov 04, 2019 at 02:58 PM
  #1
Greetings!

I finally (after a year) got an appointment to start my EMDR treatment. I am excited, but....I have also heard that it's pretty intense. This normally wouldn't bother me, but how intense is intense? My trauma is pretty well baked in there and I am currently in a weird sort of state so I am not sure how to plan for it without giving myself other problems while getting rid of others...

So those who have had it, what are your experiences/is it reallllly something that will ask so much from me that I should probably try and plan rest periods before/after it (which some have said to me).

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Default Nov 04, 2019 at 04:35 PM
  #2
Emdr is hard. Not gonna lie. I have done some
With my psyd and it is intense because you’re purposely focusing on the trauma. BUT your t will prepare you will skills to cope with any lingering effects from sessions. You will have a safe space to access when you feel overwhelmed. Mine is this huge rock in the woods that I can picture
Sitting on in the shade while looking at sun rays in the trees and feeling cool breeze tickling my cheeks. It sounds silly but it works!
And guess what? Emdr has helped. I have taken a break from it due to some unrelated instability but we will be going back to it soon.

Only you can make the decision to attempt
This therapy but what’s to lose?

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Default Nov 05, 2019 at 04:39 AM
  #3
Does your Therapist regularly use EMDR in there practice ? You don’t want someone that’s not well trained, trauma work is tough.

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Default Nov 05, 2019 at 02:38 PM
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Originally Posted by ~Christina View Post
Does your Therapist regularly use EMDR in there practice ? You don’t want someone that’s not well trained, trauma work is tough.
Wellll, I am assuming this person strictly does EMDR because I actually go to a psychiatric hospital for my care (and they only have a select few people that do EMDR) and they have it all nicely split up.....which means I don't know her and I am going to be worked on by a stranger. She should be very well trained though?

I'm going to see where it goes, I need it so I will try it...luckily I have some flexibility in my work that allows me to work at home...sometimes.

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Default Nov 05, 2019 at 04:13 PM
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Make sure on your emdr session day’s you have time to spend relaxing afterward.

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Default Nov 12, 2019 at 11:49 PM
  #6
I barely got started with EMDR before things got put on hold - therapist decided I had other things going on too, and those needed to take priority. However, I can say the sessions leading up to the actual EMDR "stuff" were VERY intense. For the first few sessions, I needed quiet, alone time, immediately after my sessions, to pull myself together. It got easier, as we progressed. As halliebeeth87 stated, my therapist made sure I had a safe place to retreat to, mentally, before we touched on much of anything. She also made sure, before I left, that I was ok. For me, it was very much a process that was driven by me. My therapist was very good in making sure I didn't get overwhelmed. She'd break off whenever I needed to. It was unlike any type of therapy I had ever had before - so I would suggest, try not to over-think it. Just keep reminding yourself you will proceed at your own pace, and you can shut down each session as you need to, when you need to. It's a very strong patient-driven type of therapy. Good luck with it!

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Default Dec 04, 2019 at 07:41 AM
  #7
Wellll, had my first session...

1.5 hours, no safe space and no time to relax afterwards. I think it's doing something, but I am not sure I can do this every week.

My day off is Wednesday, and that's the only time I can plan it, so I really need to see if I can make this work...it's intense. Nice midweek event, right?

I really need to be careful because I feel like this will have an effect on my stability, which is sort of crumbling at the moment anyway...

I have the images stuck in my head now, hoping I can get them out soon, not fun.

Note: to the mod that moved this, it was directed towards those with BP receiving the treatment, not sure this is now the ideal spot...

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Last edited by Nevvy; Dec 04, 2019 at 07:54 AM.. Reason: Mod note
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Default Dec 06, 2019 at 06:50 PM
  #8
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nevvy View Post
Wellll, had my first session...

1.5 hours, no safe space and no time to relax afterwards. I think it's doing something, but I am not sure I can do this every week.

My day off is Wednesday, and that's the only time I can plan it, so I really need to see if I can make this work...it's intense. Nice midweek event, right?

I really need to be careful because I feel like this will have an effect on my stability, which is sort of crumbling at the moment anyway...

I have the images stuck in my head now, hoping I can get them out soon, not fun.

Note: to the mod that moved this, it was directed towards those with BP receiving the treatment, not sure this is now the ideal spot...

Hi, I had EMDR years and years ago from a psychologist who had been in the original group of therapists trained by Francine Shapiro (the woman who invented EMDR). Honestly, I wasn't that impressed with the technique. I would rather dialogue with someone; EMDR felt mechanical to me. In addition, it brought up a collage of "stuff", but any time I move my eyes back and forth I get sleepy. So during EMDR I'd get so sleepy I wouldn't even be able to process the memories.

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Default Dec 07, 2019 at 10:15 PM
  #9
I have bipolar and c-PTSD and I’m stable enough that my therapist and Pdoc think I’m ready to address us. My pdoc wants me to do EMDR and my therapist thinks it’s a bunch of BS. She thinks I should just do CBT with her. I feel like I’m in the middle of a food fight between my mental health team but I recently found a very interesting book that says good things about EMDR called The Body Keeps Score. I haven’t finished it yet but it says compelling things about the effect of EMDR on adult trauma. Apparently it’s not found to work nearly as well on childhood/repetitive trauma.
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Default Dec 08, 2019 at 07:52 PM
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It was a few sessions in, before my therapist helped me build up that safe space for me to retreat to. I wasn't at all sure I could handle it weekly, either, given how rocky the first few sessions were.


It got easier, quickly. I hope yours does too.

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Default Jan 18, 2020 at 12:47 AM
  #11
EMDR is not BS! Those in the therapeutic zone are afraid of learning something new. I did EMDR and it really worked for me. It is known in the field however; there are those who are afraid to see their own skills challenged. Sad.

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Default Jan 18, 2020 at 05:41 PM
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I think EMDR doesn't work for everyone. I tried it and it literally had no impact on me at all. I even tried hypnosis and that didn't work either. The power of suggestion is all these cognitive tools are - EMDR. Eye movement has zero impact on the brain and traumatic memories. The best way to process the trauma is to write about it and read it with a therapist, then process it verbally. There are a lot of charlatans out there who make silly promises that they have the answer (like EMDR) but I view those techniques as the equivalent of selling snake oil.

I'm about cognitive and dialectical processing of traumatic information.

Also, breathing and walking. Deep breathing exercises, drumming, painting, writing fare much better for me personally, than EMDR ever did. I tried that along with Tai Chi and even had a Reiki Master come to my hospital room to supposedly clear my body and mind of the trauma I sustained from being hit by a truck. Did absolutely nothing for me. But, once I got back on a bicycle a year later, I freaked out, but then tried it a few more times until I can now get on a road bike with no emotional response.

So, a CBT "exposure" therapy approach works best for me. Not EMDR. There's no scientific studies done on patients with EMDR. It is pseudoscience at its best. It makes a promise but has no scientific data to support itself with.

The best therapy for trauma is CBT exposure therapy. Stop hiding from your trauma. You can't process it unless you face it. Even the Buddhists taught me that when I studied with Buddhist monks the 2 years I lived in southern China. I use walking meditation to directly address my trauma. I can't sit still about it, so I walk. And let me tell you -- it works!

Healing Trauma with Meditation - Tricycle: The Buddhist Review

( FYI: There is zero wrong with strong emotions from trauma. Zero. You are not one dimensional. If you are a human, your emotional palate runs the gamut. If you are afraid of your shadow, you are in trouble. The only way to heal, is to face your fears. Your trauma. I struggle to do it, but I do it. It's what works for me. I can't isolate. I can't pretend I'm fine. I won't heal if I do those things. )

Next, I wrote down and read aloud all of my feelings and memory of being hit by a truck with a therapist. Hell, I even screamed and cried. It exhausted me but it was the only way I could release that trauma, that pain. Not in how I moved my eyes rapidly back and forth while thinking about my accident. That kept the trauma trapped for me. So, EMDR didn't work.

I guess it just depends on what your interest level is. I have tried all alternative methods of healing and found what works best for me; percussion, writing, drawing, painting, speaking, walking, reading. I still have trauma from that accident. I used to scream bloody murder when I hear tires screech on pavement from a truck or car.

Now, I just tense up and have a little anxiety attack and remember the accident. I know that EMDR would never help me with it because I tried and it did not work. I hope EMDR works for you. Sorry for my anti-EMDR experience but I wanted to give you my perspective.
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