Pattijane, thank you for your detailed description of EMDR. My T recommended "Getting Past Your Past" and I found it interesting.

She used to do EMDR with me and our sessions were always 90 minutes. However, many times I wanted to talk first so we didn't start until later in the session but we still had an hour. I'm not sure if it worked for me or not. I had trouble accessing past memories and always thought I was doing EMDR "wrong". My T said there is no right or wrong to the process, and whatever came up was okay. I didn't have any major trauma to work through and when I concentrated on the target, often nothing seemed to happen. T said it will help to change my brain anyway.

I will say that I have always been afraid of fire and of lighting matches. We did EMDR about that, and ever since, I've been able to light matches (at least the long kitchen ones) without any problem! It must have been the EMDR that helped. I tended to be skeptical about the process, so maybe that affected its effectiveness for other targets.

Now my T thinks somatic experiencing is better for me though she still does EMDR with other clients. I think EMDR is kind of weird but it can and does work for many people! My T had training in it so I agree that it's important that the T be qualified. Good luck!