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Post by brokenbiscuit on Jul 21, 2018 17:43:06 GMT
The therapist I am seeing is trained in this. Although I havent discussed this type of therapy with her yet with regards to my childhood trauma and subsequent FA tendencies, it is something I read about before that apparently has a very high success rate with people who have suffered PTSD and trauma in their lives psychcentral.com/lib/attachment-focused-emdr-healing-relational-trauma/I'm trying to grasp a bit more about the techniques and what is actually involved. At first glance it appears a bit "clockwork orange" in its approach with regards to eye movement and rewiring of the brain. Anyone know any more? Perhaps had their own experience with this type of relatively new therapy? The anecdotal evidence I have read in parts seems to indicate it has a high level of success and much quicker in terms of relief to the patient compared to say years of talking therapy. |
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Post by brokenbiscuit on Jul 21, 2018 18:38:46 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jul 23, 2018 20:54:55 GMT
The therapist I am seeing is trained in this. Although I havent discussed this type of therapy with her yet with regards to my childhood trauma and subsequent FA tendencies, it is something I read about before that apparently has a very high success rate with people who have suffered PTSD and trauma in their lives psychcentral.com/lib/attachment-focused-emdr-healing-relational-trauma/I'm trying to grasp a bit more about the techniques and what is actually involved. At first glance it appears a bit "clockwork orange" in its approach with regards to eye movement and rewiring of the brain. Anyone know any more? Perhaps had their own experience with this type of relatively new therapy? The anecdotal evidence I have read in parts seems to indicate it has a high level of success and much quicker in terms of relief to the patient compared to say years of talking therapy. Hey brokenbiscuit I had EMDR for PTSD - it was basically remembering a really traumatic experience, imagining it again and the therapist (Psych) moving his finger from one side to the other for me to follow with eyes, while allowing any feelings to come up. After a few minutes we would stop and talk a little and then I'd be asked to think about something that came up, or just follow the feelings all the while imagining the original scene. The first session (of a number of goes at the above) was awfully triggering and itself quite traumatic, but the guy was / is absolutely lovely and kind and made me feel safe. He did warn me that stuff will surface in between sessions and that I may be tired, etc - I was exhausted aftr every session plus had a lot of stuff come up n between. I eventually stopped as I couldn't afford the group and indiv trauma therapy that is supposed to happen at the same time (I didn't know at the start, I think the Psych thought I may be having these at that time, until I said I couldn't carry on). I would say that actually, those sessions removed a huge chunk of trauma - or at least toned down the retained trauma of certain experiences. I was also told by the guy and have practised this on my own very occasionally to help at more recent traumatic times / triggers. In a nutshell, I believe it is about distracting the normal pathways of the traumatic memory - a bit like NLP state changing, or pain gate theory, where the worn neural pathway is interrupted redirected / smoothed-out or actually broken. I believe if it is one-time PTSD, it is more straightforward, but if it is Complex / Chronic PTSD (i.e., from various traumas, particularly psychological), which are more interwoven with unconscious coping mechanisms, etc, that it is not as straight forward but still effective. At least for me, dealing with one particularly terrible experience (it really was, but was also more-than-shockingly dismissed at the time) at the start was a real catalyst for damping down the other traumas. I have undertaken a lot of other therapy approaches which may bias the outcome (given that I have learnt other ways to deal with traumas, etc), but I still believe that with a kind, patient and empathic therapist the outcome can be very helpful indeed. |
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Post by brokenbiscuit on Jul 24, 2018 4:29:59 GMT
Thank you WG, your experience echoes a lot of what others say about EMDR, based on all the stories I have read online in the last few days. It does sound beneficial, and does sound like something I could get something from. I spoke to my therapist about it yesterday as well, and she gave me a big hint that it may be something she wants to try with me too in the future (she's trained in this type of therapy. My only concern is how well trained she is exactly)
But as per your experience, it does sound a bit exhausting, scary and emotionally challenging. Having to bring up all those repressed memories again in such a stark and confrontational manner makes me nervous. But the alternative is years and years of expensive talk therapy that may only scratch the surface of what I want to achieve with myself. I think I will be taking the plunge at some point, and may well use this thread to document my own experience if and when that time comes, so as to give others here some insight too in case it's something they want to explore as well. It does sound scary though, no denying it! Happy healing to you x
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