I have a question for those of you who have done trauma processing via EMDR or in other ways. Just how helpful is it? I've tried doing EMDR with my therapist several times, and have also tried to just process trauma by talking about it. What I have found is that it has not been helpful. All it has done is bring up all of the old pain i had stored inside me.

My t has given me coping skills i can use to tolerate the pain. But my question is, Why even bring up the trauma/pain if all that happens is that you feel awful and have to use all sorts of skills just to contain or endure it? Isn't it better to just focus on the good things in life?

My t has indicated to me that by facing and addressing my traumas, over time i will find some relief from the pain. But this has not happened for me. On the one hand, t says i need to process the traumas because i keep getting triggered over and over in the present when things remind me of the past. Then i overreact and resort to dissociation or other means of coping that no longer works for the present day. So i can see why i need to work through the traumas. But I'm just not seeing the silver lining. It all just feels re-traumatizing and awful.

Does it get easier? I don't know if i want to keep doing this if all it is is pain. . .