Ok... i've been diagnosed with complex ptsd and i find it really hard to even talk about any of it particularly recently after being attacked again and having two really big anniversaries. My clinical psychologist said that EMDR may be a part of the treatment.. but that im no where near strong enough for it yet.. Now i've done some research and the idea of it all really concerns me... It actually scares me... Basically im just not sure what happens for the client/patient? What happens emotionally but also physically.. As sometimes when im really engulfed by flashbacks and unable to get out (nightmares being another example) i lose bladder control or vomit (also have really bad Ibs which is really quite sensitive to stress and can make me really ill) and pretty much have no control over anything... would this actually happen in EMDR? Its a bit early for me to be worrying but i cant help it.. i dont like being seen in such a state and im struggling with my psych right now as it is. I thought starting a thread on it all may be helpful, so poeple if they feel able to would post their own experiences of sessions, what happened in them and say how they found it? thanks xxxx
"It is not the strength of the body that counts, but the strength of the spirit"
-J.R.R Tolkien
Personally I hated it, as I felt that at times I was telling him something that was really important and he just carried on. He changed it, but I asked to stop.
They start off by making sure that you have a safe place and finish there. It can increase the flashbacks during the week.
Saying that it is supposed to be the best treatment possible, so worth trying.
I worked for a little over 2 years with an EMDR therapist, and it was really helpful to me. She also does hypnosis, so in light trance hypnosis, she guided me through creating an internal safe place and "anchoring" it in my body by touching my thumb and my first two fingers together--it was basically training my body and mind to help me return to that safe place by using that hand gesture.
When I was using EMDR to process memories, we'd always start with her asking me the negative belief[s] I had about myself connected with the memory and what I'd like to believe instead. Next we'd do safe place work. Then when I felt grounded and safe, she'd have me bring the memory up like a movie on a screen, so I could stop it or pause it whenever I needed to. She'd have me replay the memory over and over and describe what I was feeling and noticing. Sometimes she'd tell me to stay with some particular part of it for a while. I'd keep replaying the memory until my beliefs shifted.
The first time I processed a memory with EMDR, after a while of replaying the event as it happened, I spontaneously pictured my adult self going in and rescuing my child self. My therapist said she sometimes guides patients to doing that, but it happened on my own for me. She then had me visualize taking that child part into my safe place and caring for her. That ended up being something I did toward the end of every EMDR session because it was really helpful to me.
I only did EMDR about every other session--in between, we'd do regular talk therapy to process the effects of the EMDR, as it can be quite intense. I found that it decreased my complex PTSD symptoms dramatically and let me make peace with a lot of my traumatic memories.
I hope that's helpful--and if you want to talk in more detail, feel free to PM me.
sounds like using emdr with your current symptoms (ibs, nausea etc) may be the best place to start when all the grounding work has taken place (which should take a significant number of sessions beforehand) prior to working with anything like traumatic issues. symptoms can 'talk' a lot and often benefit from being 'heard'
Ok thank you everyone for your comments, i've got a lot to think about. Umm why if dissociation is a significant part of my symptoms must i go careful? Does it have a specific impact on it? My dissociation is really bad when i get minimally stressed.. however at my worst i can lose time for hours on end.. and i get really quite self distructive.. the last time i seriously dissociated for 4 hours i ended up in hospital.. Can EMDR make dissociation worse of make me dissociate during the sessions?
"It is not the strength of the body that counts, but the strength of the spirit"
-J.R.R Tolkien
The standard EMDR protocols only address the primary and secondary dissociation that frequently accompany and follow traumatic events. These two types of dissociative symptoms typically are symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder. Primary dissociation consists of flashbacks, intrusive thoughts, and somatic symptoms. Secondary dissociation consists of depersonalization and derealization.
In contrast, tertiary dissociation, which is addressed by the proposed treatment model, includes the formation of a range of ego states, from normal functional parts to less functional self fragments or alters. Tertiary dissociation is considered ubiquitous. Bromberg (1994) and Watkins and Watkins (1996) describe the formation of ego states as a line of normal human development.
In the EMDR treatment of dissociated, traumatized clients who are dealing with these less functional parts, ego state work needs to be an essential part of the preparation stage. If it is not, as mentioned above, there may be diminished response or nonresponse to treatment.
if your therapist is trained and experienced in trauma work then they're likely to be familiar with the three phase approach which is pretty standard across developed countries. if your therapist isn't familiar with this, they would do well to read 'trauma and the body' by ogden, minton and pain
essentially, dissociative states are worked with well before trauma work begins
