[Focus62]

Anybody done this before? I'd be in it for PTSD, which I think it is used for most frequently.

I am hopeful in that it might work for me. I have tried EMDR and it just didn't work because I think I need to actually verbalize the horror to someone else to help get it out of my head and off my chest...if I don't share the pain with another, then I feel like it'll continue to eat me alive. I grew in a household full of secrets and which forced me to keep secrets of things that should have never been kept secret... EMDR kind of made me feel like I still needed to keep my secret and that nobody wanted to hear of my pain or couldn't handle it... as I child I was treated as something to be seen and not heard, EMDR reinforced those feelings for me. PET sounds like there is a lot more verbalization of the traumas which is going to be incredibly difficult, surely, but I think more of a release will come from it.

Anybody have any experience?

[AnxiousGirl]

I've done prolonged exposure therapy for my fear of injections. It was definitely terrifying at first but thankfully my T was helpful. It took us about 3-4 months (out of the year of me seeing T) to get to the point where I can hold an actual needle. However, dont mean to scare you or anything, I began getting really overwhelmed at the last few steps so my T decided it would be best to stop the exposure for now and come back to it later on. It might be really really scary at first, and that's expected. Your T is trained for this kind of stuff and will help guide you through it, and if it gets too much just say that you need a break.

[Focus62]

Thanks for your input. As I read more on it, it does seem rather intimidating... I'm not even sure if that's what we'll do. This T seems to dabble in a lot of different types of therapy.

[AnxiousGirl]

It is distressing for sure! I mean you're confronting your fears so of course intense feelings will come up. If you arent ready though then dont do it because you will only be hurting yourself. Only start when you are 100% ready. My T made sure to ask me plenty of times before we started and once I said I'm ready we dove in, slowly through. At some parts I did stop my T from the exposure and even apologized but T reassured me that it was all in my control whether or not to move on to the next step!

[skeksi]

I did one formal round of it with T--it turned out not to be appropriate for me at that time. We were trying to do it with memories but it was too much--it did get me comfortable enough with talking about some of it that we could do other stuff, though. We've done modified versions of it since and it's been really helpful.

[naia]

I don't have direct experience of this type of therapy so I can't really say for sure. I do know people who have tried it, and I've looked into it for PTSD. Since you asked for opinions, this is just my sense of it. I myself chose not to do it, and others that have wished they hadn't.

While they say it works, it's kinda too much. I mean you gotta just relive it. Not sure why reliving your trauma history is good for you. I guess you are facing it, but there are other ways, stuff that is slower and softer.

People with trauma are sensitive. I guess it's supposed to desensitized you? I don't want to be numb or forget it. I just want to not have it get in the way.

I like more supportive, gentle therapy. At least when doing trauma work, I want my T to be there like a witness so I'm not alone in what I had to go through and not talk about. I already relive things in my head; I don't want to do that in therapy. I want the opposite...to not feel like I'm forced into anything.

So that is just an opinion, based on my own experiences and others, and some reading around to find out about whether I wanted to try this or not. Depends on what you want, what the trauma was like, how old you were, how much it repeated, how severe the PTSD is, and of course how good the T is.

I have found that Judith Herman on trauma is the best cuz she describes what it is like to have all kinds of trauma and she maps out a path of recovery. It's about connection. Feeling connected to someone to feel the parts that were hurt and are disconnected. Starting really small and working slowly. Kinda the opposite of exposure.

[confusedbyself]

Focus62.... I just found your post and SOOOO absolutely understand avast you are saying. I feel the exact same way. I am terrified of 'talking' about the things that happened, but honestly, I want to so badly. It is just like you said, it is already a shameful secret to me and all these methods of going around the edges just make it feel when more horrible because it is like I have to keep carrying it alone and it is so bad that nor even my t can handle it. I have also read on exposure and feel it would 'force' me to finally let somebody else carry part of this load and might bring relief.

I keep hoping my t will say that is what we have to do because I can't ask for it myself but sure feel everything you said. I hope you are able to have a great end result. I know the road on exposure would be super hard and I hope you have a good t to help you through it and find peace at the end.

Please keep me updated on how it goes for you as, from what I got from your post, I sure understand what you are saying.

[leomama]

Originally Posted by Focus62

Anybody done this before? I'd be in it for PTSD, which I think it is used for most frequently.

I am hopeful in that it might work for me. I have tried EMDR and it just didn't work because I think I need to actually verbalize the horror to someone else to help get it out of my head and off my chest...if I don't share the pain with another, then I feel like it'll continue to eat me alive. I grew in a household full of secrets and which forced me to keep secrets of things that should have never been kept secret... EMDR kind of made me feel like I still needed to keep my secret and that nobody wanted to hear of my pain or couldn't handle it... as I child I was treated as something to be seen and not heard, EMDR reinforced those feelings for me. PET sounds like there is a lot more verbalization of the traumas which is going to be incredibly difficult, surely, but I think more of a release will come from it.

Anybody have any experience?

I also tried EMDR but it didn't work for me because I didn't have enough resources. May I ask what is the source of your PTSD and if you tried PE therapy?