MissC, I think EMDR can be used with complex PTSD, at least in some cases. It doesn't have to be just one traumatic event you do EMDR on, but you could do an EMDR series on a number of past situations. My T told me he sometimes asks people to make a list of their 20 most traumatizing memories and then he does a series of 20 sessions with them, starting with the most intense memory first. He said that they rarely make it through the list, because after the person does the first half a dozen, they get so much relief, they don't need to go all the way to the end. I know, of course, that this approach would not work for many people. Starting with the most traumatizing might be just too intense.

I did EMDR when I first began therapy. I think I did about 4 EMDR sessions on various things. We didn't do the eye movements, but used another method. One reason my T likes EMDR is because he says it is faster than other methods he has used (he has been treating trauma for decades). He likes to give people quick relief and he said talk therapy can take years and he likes to help relieve people's pain quickly. I personally can't say if there is anything to the idea of the alternate stimulation of the two sides of the brain, so deli, I hear you on this. But the EMDR sessions did help me get "unstuck", and my T had said I was stuck due to trauma. However, I was new to therapy, and maybe simple talk therapy would have been equally effective with me, and maybe it is the "talk" portions of the EMDR that helped me. I think the EMDR protocol helps give a structured "frame" to the process of dealing with trauma. First we do this, then we do this, then that, then we are done for the day. I think that structure can be reassuring and almost makes it easier to do the protocol without knowing the T that well, without complete trust. It seems more regimented--following the steps in a certain order. Whereas talk therapy is less structured. When I didn't know my T, how would I have been able to sit with him so early on and just talk for an hour about traumatic events? I wouldn't have been able to do that. But when he gave me this structured EMDR protocol, it seemed more doable to fit my memories into this defined frame he provided.

Since those early days, we have not done EMDR. He has mentioned it a couple of times, "we could do EMDR on that," but I have waved him off. I feel I don't need the structured protocol anymore. I know my T really well now and am better able to share all sorts of things with him. So when something traumatic arises that I want (ha) to deal with, we just talk about it. I always had a little bit of trouble with the "positive cognition" and the "negative cognition" parts of the EMDR protocol, so if we just do talk therapy, we can skip those parts. What I have noticed, though, is that after I did EMDR, I was completely exhausted and would have to go sleep immediately. When I just do talk therapy on trauma, I do not get that same degree of intense exhaustion afterwards. So something different is going on with EMDR....