My therapist wants to begin EMDR sessions

I have been seeing my new therapist for a little over a month now. We've talked about my Borderline Personality Disorder and how a recent break-up triggered a lot of anxiety. My anxiety is so bad right now that I can't really eat and just feel like I'm losing control. I feel crazy to put it simply. She told me she's trained in EMDR and she told me a success story she'd had with one of her patients (with the patients permission of course) and it made me pretty hopeful.
However, after I read up on it, it seems to be very reliant on conjuring up specific traumatic memories. I know I have trauma from my childhood and I know that they're still effecting me today as an adult, but when i think back to these memories I don't feel anything. I don't have any stress associated with the abuse and neglect my mother did, though I do believe my therapist when she says that this neglect is forcing me to try and find affection to this very day in romantic partners to make up for what I didn't have as a child...it does explain my fear of abandonment and separation anxiety from partners, but I think back to what must be the traumatic memories and I don't feel that pain and anxiety. Will EMDR still work?

My T is a trauma expert and he thought it was bogus at first. Then he said the more he talked with other Ts about it and saw first hand the results, he realized it was very helpful. If your T is suggesting it, why not give it a try? You don't really know if it will work or not unless you try it out.

That's true. Might as well give it a try.
Your therapist really thinks it works too? After she explained how it worked, I expressed my doubts as to it's validity and she was like "No, it sounds stupid, but it really works. It's insane how well it works, in fact" so it really got me hopeful.

I know of someone who did EMDR. She said that while it was excruciating to go through, it worked! She was quite surprised at how much stress and anxiety she had over things that happened to her in her life.

Sometimes those emotions are so buried, we don't know they exist. EMDR will bring those out. She said that was a life savor for her!

I tried it, but i'm not a big fan. I think that it was more because the T lacked experience, I don't know. But I know TONS of people who it has worked really well for, so give it a shot. Just be really open an honest if you feel awkward or uncomfortable so you can work thru it.

My concern is that you're describing being unable to manage your day to day life and feelings as they are. And your childhood experiences aren't something which currently trouble you. I haven't done EMDR, but others are describing it as 'excruiating to go through'- it sounds like it will make things worse before they get better. Can you afford for things to get worse?

If it were me, I'd want to deal with the recent break up, and try to get my anxiety under control and focus on being able to begin eating and taking care of myself again, before I even contemplated stirring up more difficult stuff.

This is just my twopenny worth. I'm not for a second questioning the effectiveness of EMDR, but rather the order in which you deal with the problems. I'm coming from a DBT perspective which says not that the childhood stuff shouldn't be dealt with, but that we need to learn the skills to deal with our feelings and our lives so that we have a stable base from which to do the hard work about the past. I have tried to do it the other way round- face the past before I could manage the present- and it felt like being thrown into the ocean before I'd even learnt to swim. I very nearly drowned.

Blast: My T, who I've been seeing for almost a year, is a big believer in EMDR. We did it 3 times, and I have mixed feelings about it. She wants to do it again, and I will, but it's weird. Not in a bad or terrible way; I just don't understand it.

I also cannot concentrate on any feelings about any particular incidents from my past. We started on one topic, and got completely onto something else not related to that incident at all. My T keeps insisting, though, that there is no right or wrong way to do EMDR. She says my brain will go where it needs to go, that it doesn't matter if it's not about a certain incident.

So, I know what the literature says too. But, according to my T, there are other ways to use EMDR and it works, regardless. I'm still kind of skeptical, but I will say, that after one of the EMDR sessions I felt different. I am usually very anxious in general, and I also have BPD. I felt so calm and peaceful the whole week after doing EMDR.

I think you should give it a try. I didn't find it excruciating at all, Squiggle. I think everyone reacts differently. Blast, since your T is experienced with the technique, I'm sure she'll go through the safeguards first, like having "safe place" to go to if you get overwhelmed. Also, there are various methods to use. Traditionally, the T moves her fingers back in forth in front of your eyes and you follow them. I couldn't do that. We use buzzers I hold in my hand, and ear phones. Some Ts tap on the client's knees but that didn't work for me either.

The T can stop at any time. EMDR isn't intrusive or scary in that sense. I'm still very curious about how it works. My T says it works even if you think it isn't, because of the alternating stimuli to your left and right brain. She says it can help when you're stuck, not just for specifc trauma.

Good luck and post how it goes.

I agree with rainbow. I have been seeing an EMDR T for a few months, but we haven't actually done any EMDR yet. I am with Rainbow in that I don't have any specific "trauma" I need to process, but it doesn't have to be like that. What I have been doing with my T is just trying to get comfortable with her, and just try to take in this new type of therapy. We have also not started it because things have happened that has left me more of in an emotional crisis, so that had to be dealt with the "normal" way-by talking.

I believe I probably will start it in the new year, and can update you if you'd like

I tried EMDR. It does work, but it's incredibly painful. It was too much for me, I started having nightmares and ended up in the hospital. I won't try again. I did it three times, and it does work, as strange as it is.

Worked for me. challenging but not painful.
If/when I think of the traumas we worked on, I now think...so what.
They do not control or haunt me.

this seems very interesting

Improving: The thing is, in theory the past is what is making me feel this way about the situation. It's hard to start eating again and not feel constantly anxious when I can't control my emotions...at this point my reaction and emotions about things don't really have a logical reason. It's reflecting how I felt as a child. The point of EMDR would be for me to address the abandonment I felt then so I won't feel that anymore, in this relationship or the next one. The EMDR is going to teach me coping skills and how to deal beter, but also take away the pain that certain memories make me associate with current events. That way when these sort of things happen, my brain won't automatically start screaming "AHHH YOU'RE ALONE, YOU'RE OBVIOUSLY WORTHLESS AND NOBODY COULD POSSIBLY LOVE YOU AND HE NEVER DID".

Everybody who says it was very painful...would you say that you had serious trauma as a child. If you don't mind me asking, that's actually a very personal question.

Be SURE to read this:
http://tinyurl.com/2d6xh82
The link shows HOW PTSD works. By understanding this, you will understand how EMDR actually helps us move the trauma over from short term memory part of the brain (where the events are "stuck" - which is why flashbacks make us feel as though they are NOW) into the part of the brain holding past memories.

I was physically and emotionally abused as a child, on a daily basis. I don't know if that qualifies as serious trauma, but to me it definitely felt that way. And still does. When T and I tried the EMDR, we actually started with less intense memories, planning on working our way up. But like I said, even the less intense ones were too much.

Crap! I missed my therapy session today!
We were supposed to start it, but I wrote down the wrong time. I've been feeling so stressed about everything lately that I was hoping starting the EMDR would help with that. Plus, I'm starting my internship and going on a vacation so I won't see her for another week and a half! Ughhh!

I've done EMDR. I've had some major childhood trauma, and the EMDR was not too painful for me.

My T worked VERY slowly and carefully with the EMDR and she focused a lot on establishing a safe place. Some EMDR sessions we just touched on painful feelings, like being alone, rather than processing a whole memory. She was careful not to go too deep into memories.

The EMDR did stir up a lot of emotions for me, not during the sessions, but the evening after or following day. I'd be uncomfortable and grieving for about 24-48 hours after EMDR and then I would feel a HUGE sense of relief. HUGE.

For me, the discomfort was worth it. It helped a lot. But I do think you need to communicate with your T and express your concerns about going too fast or being overwhelmed. The day before we started EMDR, I called my T about 4 times with different questions and concerns. She resolved all of them and made sure I felt safe before starting.

Good luck.