EMDR?

Anyone out there try EMDR therapy?
Was it a good or bad fit for you and why?

I had my first experience with it today and three things come to mind: exhaustion, overwhelming, confusion. I don't know if I'm going to continue EMDR but at the very least I'm going to go back to my old T for talk therapy.

EMDR?
... I dont know what that is.. so i guess not...- >.> wait is it that type of therapy where you talk the whole time and the therapist just sits there and listens and doesn't respond at all? I haven't been in that, but I've known someone who has, and I knew just by the mere thought of it, that i could never be in that kind..
I'm too lazy to google right now.. and i also have over 3 windows open with a total of 15 or more tabs open so i'm way behind in what i've been trying to look into.

geez, there have been other threads on here about EMDR; I'm too tired and lazy to look for them now so I'll just tell you my feelings about it.

EMDR scares me but I think it works! My T believes very strongly in it and she does it with most, if not all, of her clients. I've had varying reactions including feeling exhausted afterwards, but it usually makes me feel calm too. We did it about my fear of fire and I've noticed that I can light matches without panicking like I used to.

I don't like it because I don't feel close to my T when we do it; I feel kind of in my own world and it's scary. Sometimes. Other times it's all right. For a month or more I haven't wanted to do EMDR but my T keeps writing down EMDR targets for me. I'm not sure why it's so scary. My T says there is no right or wrong; just go wherever my mind takes me. But I keep trying to do it "right" and it makes me uneasy.

So it's up to you. I'd try it a few more times before you give up on it. But I thought you were seeing another T for couples therapy. EMDR wouldn't work for that.

Also, EMDR does not have to be done just for major trauma. My T uses it with me anywhere I might be stuck, or about any feelings I have like "I feel different" for example.

So you decided to go back to your former T. I hope that it goes well for you.

http://forums.psychcentral.com/showthread.php?t=208221
One of the threads on EMDR, hope it can help.

I hope I'm not confusing everyone with my post. The marriage T that I am seeing for couples therapy (our last session was yesterday) I called in despair a few weeks back as I had a flood of feelings come up that relate to CSA and it was a reaction I had after my husband and I were 'together'. Emotions, Nightmare etc.... I asked her if she could be my new T and she said no she can not but she could help me get some relief with EMDR. She said with a couple of sessions she could help me without having to know any 'details'. At my appt yesterday with her and my husband I said lets give it a try. It can't hurt. I then asked my husband to leave the room and we tried EMDR and it was awful but helped my emotions surface at the same time. Emotions that were buried/didn't know I even had or still had were there.

While marriage T could never be my solo T (unless my husband and I resolved that we would never go to her for marriage counseling and we would have to sign something etc... There's legalities involved if something ever came up and she had to go to court to testify (not likely but just there's legalities etc..).

- she could help me with a little emdr as relates to my marriage etc...

Before I left I felt emotionally drained and unsure about it all. I told her that I would think about it and get back to her. She told me there are other people in the local area that do EMDR and talk therapy. or I could do some more EMDR with her and talk therapy with my old T across the hall. Or skip EMDR all together and go to old T or someone else. Talk therapy is much slower but feels very safe. EMDR is very intense for me and scary. I don't know if I can continue with a few more sessions of EMDR. I want to run back to the safety of my old T and no one else. Ugh! I'm starting school in a few weeks. I really don't have time for this!

I know that EMDR would never work for me, and I don't want to ever try it.

It's not that I am opposed to EMDR, and I am aware of the research that shows that it is effective for PTSD, and I am theoretically an excellent candidate for it.

It's just that for me, I know that the only way I can ever truly be free of the things from my CSA past that continue to influence me in the present (especially relationally) is to identify what they are, talk about them, and watch the grip of it slowly release from my life. That is a process that makes sense to me. That is a process I have gone through over and over. It works for me. That is healing to me. EMDR as a process does not *feel* like healing to me. That is all.

The good thing is that I doubt that trying a few sessions of it will hurt anything, and people often report feeling better in the days after EMDR. But don't feel like you have to do it (as I'm sure you know).

Anne

Worked for me. I think it's worth a try for anyone.

Masimo how long did you do EMDR? I only had one experience with it and while it was extremely scary it did help bring up my feelings.... however I'm having resistance to being open to it. I feel too vulnerable and want to protect myself. I found my one time experience to be extremely emotionally draining, uncomfortable and scary. However I will endure hell if it means I can get better.