As mentioned in a previous post, I am currently doing therapy twice weekly (after a once weekly regiment for several years) and we will be working on EMDR. What's that, you say? (next two explanations are from EDMR.com)
For Clinicians:Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is a psychotherapy treatment that was originally designed to alleviate the distress associated with traumatic memories (Shapiro, 1989a, 1989b). Shapiro’s (2001) Adaptive Information Processing model posits that EMDR therapy facilitates the accessing and processing of traumatic memories and other adverse life experience to bring these to an adaptive resolution. After successful treatment with EMDR therapy, affective distress is relieved, negative beliefs are reformulated, and physiological arousal is reduced. During EMDR therapy the client attends to emotionally disturbing material in brief sequential doses while simultaneously focusing on an external stimulus. Therapist directed lateral eye movements are the most commonly used external stimulus but a variety of other stimuli including hand-tapping and audio stimulation are often used (Shapiro, 1991). Shapiro (1995, 2001) hypothesizes that EMDR therapy facilitates the accessing of the traumatic memory network, so that information processing is enhanced, with new associations forged between the traumatic memory and more adaptive memories or information. These new associations are thought to result in complete information processing, new learning, elimination of emotional distress, and development of cognitive insights. EMDR therapy uses a three pronged protocol: (1) the past events that have laid the groundwork for dysfunction are processed, forging new associative links with adaptive information; (2) the current circumstances that elicit distress are targeted, and internal and external triggers are desensitized; (3) imaginal templates of future events are incorporated, to assist the client in acquiring the skills needed for adaptive functioning.
For Laypeople:EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) is a psychotherapy that enables people to heal from the symptoms and emotional distress that are the result of disturbing life experiences. Repeated studies show that by using EMDR therapy people can experience the benefits of psychotherapy that once took years to make a difference. It is widely assumed that severe emotional pain requires a long time to heal. EMDR therapy shows that the mind can in fact heal from psychological trauma much as the body recovers from physical trauma. When you cut your hand, your body works to close the wound. If a foreign object or repeated injury irritates the wound, it festers and causes pain. Once the block is removed, healing resumes. EMDR therapy demonstrates that a similar sequence of events occurs with mental processes. The brain’s information processing system naturally moves toward mental health. If the system is blocked or imbalanced by the impact of a disturbing event, the emotional wound festers and can cause intense suffering. Once the block is removed, healing resumes. Using the detailed protocols and procedures learned in EMDR therapy training sessions, clinicians help clients activate their natural healing processes.
If you got through all that! Congrats! You must really care about your mental health! (or mine...) anyways. It may seem like one would be a good candidate for this therapy only if they've had a major trauma or event in their lives. Not true. For me, there's no specific event or trauma, just ways of thinking about things that seem like I was born with, that need to change.
With my therapist as a guide, we went through the beginning questions that you need to evaluate before starting. We talked about what intrusive thoughts were impacting my life the most. Have you ever tried to describe thoughts you've had your whole life? Because it's actually really hard. Especially if you've never said these thoughts out-loud. They become more of a feeling than a thought that can be described by words. and that's exactly it for me. The feelings these thoughts bring me are negative and affect different parts of my body. Some are a kick to the chest, or a tight throat. Others are not as immediate and cause gut pain. Hello IBS. These feelings cause me to tense up and my muscles lock and don't release. How can these feelings come from thoughts?
This dedication and attention to myself internally can be confusing but I'm trusting the process. We have begun with my over-sensitivity to the well-fare of animals. Don't get me wrong, having compassion is a good thing. but many times my love for animals, especially my own pets, has brought me to crippling amounts of fear and pain. Am I being a good enough pet owner? What will I do when my cat passes away? Will I be able to continue on? Not being able to live my life after Peanut dies is a legit and real concern for me. Another example: the other day we saw a sick raccoon in the street while hubby was raking leaves. Seeing him brought my whole day to a stop. (btw someone already called animal control and I watched them drive up and look for him. and I'm assuming they caught him to humanely euthanize as it had an obvious case of final stage rabies) I would like to be able to think "well gee that's sad but that's nature" instead of sobbing like a pansy.
My first session: I'm currently on a plethora of fertility drugs that cause multiple symptoms, including dizziness. So following my therapist's hand back and fourth with my eyes made me quite dizzy. We decided to use the tapping approach. That's when your therapist says to close your eyes and think about a triggering event or thought and focus on it while she taps your knees. We did this process over and over, each time evaluating my symptoms and physical action to the triggering thought or event. Sometimes tears were pouring through my closed eyes. Sometimes I got that feeling where you think about something too much and it starts to feel weird or non-sensical. We used different number scales to evaluate each session. and though we've only done this twice now, I did notice a significant improvement in my symptoms. Depression has been non-existent in my life for the last 3 weeks since starting. Now I need to wrangle my anxiety because it's been bad.
Have you done this type of therapy before? What have been your experiences? or is this the first you've heard of it? Are you inspired to give it a try? Let me know!
With my therapist as a guide, we went through the beginning questions that you need to evaluate before starting. We talked about what intrusive thoughts were impacting my life the most. Have you ever tried to describe thoughts you've had your whole life? Because it's actually really hard. Especially if you've never said these thoughts out-loud. They become more of a feeling than a thought that can be described by words. and that's exactly it for me. The feelings these thoughts bring me are negative and affect different parts of my body. Some are a kick to the chest, or a tight throat. Others are not as immediate and cause gut pain. Hello IBS. These feelings cause me to tense up and my muscles lock and don't release. How can these feelings come from thoughts?
This dedication and attention to myself internally can be confusing but I'm trusting the process. We have begun with my over-sensitivity to the well-fare of animals. Don't get me wrong, having compassion is a good thing. but many times my love for animals, especially my own pets, has brought me to crippling amounts of fear and pain. Am I being a good enough pet owner? What will I do when my cat passes away? Will I be able to continue on? Not being able to live my life after Peanut dies is a legit and real concern for me. Another example: the other day we saw a sick raccoon in the street while hubby was raking leaves. Seeing him brought my whole day to a stop. (btw someone already called animal control and I watched them drive up and look for him. and I'm assuming they caught him to humanely euthanize as it had an obvious case of final stage rabies) I would like to be able to think "well gee that's sad but that's nature" instead of sobbing like a pansy.
My first session: I'm currently on a plethora of fertility drugs that cause multiple symptoms, including dizziness. So following my therapist's hand back and fourth with my eyes made me quite dizzy. We decided to use the tapping approach. That's when your therapist says to close your eyes and think about a triggering event or thought and focus on it while she taps your knees. We did this process over and over, each time evaluating my symptoms and physical action to the triggering thought or event. Sometimes tears were pouring through my closed eyes. Sometimes I got that feeling where you think about something too much and it starts to feel weird or non-sensical. We used different number scales to evaluate each session. and though we've only done this twice now, I did notice a significant improvement in my symptoms. Depression has been non-existent in my life for the last 3 weeks since starting. Now I need to wrangle my anxiety because it's been bad.
Have you done this type of therapy before? What have been your experiences? or is this the first you've heard of it? Are you inspired to give it a try? Let me know!
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