Dissociation in therapy

Ok so i am doing emdr soon my therapist is installing a safe place in me i can go to if stuff gets real. She said if i dissociate i can bring myself back. How will i know i disdociated. My old therapist said i dissociated and i dont remember. So how can i bring myself back?

good news is you are already in phase 2 of emdr. this is where you get prepared on what to do.

since your therapist is already helping you to install a safe place for you if you dissociate this is how she wants you to ground yourself (your words bring yourself back) they would not be having you visualize (imagine) a safe place if you are not able to bring your self back....

just some info here here I am if someone cant bring their self to stop imagining their safe place (your word bring yourself back) they dont have you imagine a safe place. they make the calls needed to hospitalize the person that is so out of touch with reality that they cant stop imagining their safe place.

my point if your therapist didnt think you could do phase 2 they would not be doing phase 2 right now with you, they would have you still back at phase 1 of emdr (taking history)

as for how to tell when you are dissociating... my suggestion is read your past posts, some of them may give you an idea of how and when you dissociate so that you can keep these things in mind while you are doing the phase 2 of emdr.

another suggestion since your therapist knows you dissociate maybe you can ask her if you can see your file she keeps on you, in the file will be the fact that you told them you dissociate and how you dissociate and why you dissociate. (part of the requirements here in the USA for diagnosis of dissociative disorders now is self reporting dissociation symptoms/ problems)

my point you and your therapist cango through your file and discuss how and why you dissociate and what to do while you are doing the various emdr phases. (there are 8 of them from beginning to end.)

IF we're me I'd just share co con everyone for this very reason so when things intersect they all know the techniques for grounding be present. 10 to 1 a session at the end and playing out a scenario, to get to my transportation for the next segment of life.

Thanks guys

Thanks for posting

Hello,

Hopefully your therapist can help you understand when this is happening. Everyone experiences it differently, but sometimes it feels for me like I've gone completely numb. I also start to have tunnel vision (especially in therapy!), and those concrete signs can be really helpful for realizing what's going on.

Once you realize it's happening, grounding can be really helpful for bringing yourself back. That may look like observing your surroundings. Try to list aloud or in your head things you can see, hear, feel, etc. It also helps to become aware of your own body, focus on your breathing, and what you're thinking.

I hope this helps! Good luck with your therapy