Has anyone here done EMDR?

[Drama Llama]

I think it's the next step for me, but I'm nervous.  I want to know more about what to expect.

 

[AmandaVT]

My husband is a certified EMDR practitioner. If you have any specific questions, I can ask him? It can be life changing and incredibly helpful. 

[Shelydon]

It has been helpful for one of my teens and completely unhelpful for another. If it wasn't so expensive, we would probably continue with the one that it worked for. It is completely different from regular talk therapy

[cintinative]

If you happen to own The Body Keeps The Score, there is a discussion of EMDR and how it works that might be helpful.

 

@AmandaVT might be able to clarify, but my understanding is that EMDR really benefits those with a trauma background where talk therapy alone has not helped them move forward.

[Moonhawk]

DH has done EMDR. Definitely the most effective therapy/method for him, and has helped resolve a ton of things. He's taking a break right now but it really pulled him back from the brink at one point. Talk therapy, in contrast, did very little for him.

[East Coast Sue]

It worked for my kid and totally resolved trauma related fears that had been life altering. Talk therapy had completely failed in every way possible and EMDR worked so well that we only did 4 sessions when we had agreed to do 6-8. The practioner was very surprised/please that it worked so quickly. 

[East Coast Sue]

I also highly recommend The Body Keeps the Score. My copy is tabbed, highlighted, and used as a reference guide often. 

[Drama Llama]

12 hours ago, AmandaVT said:

My husband is a certified EMDR practitioner. If you have any specific questions, I can ask him? It can be life changing and incredibly helpful. 

Can you ask him what he does in his early sessions? I am very afraid of being triggered to the point that I am not really a functional parent because my need me to parent.

Edited June 16, 2023 by BandH

[gardenmom5]

I loved it.
We used the board with the bouncy light.  Earphones for sound.  We could adjust speed, and pattern of the light.  The object was to extract triggering/traumatizing memories that were stuck in the amygdala so they could be discarded.

I found it helpful.

Edited June 16, 2023 by gardenmom5

[PronghornD]

It sounds like the patient needs a memory to focus on. What if the trauma is preverbal, and the individual can't actually remember it? I have a very insightful young adult child who has experienced preverbal trauma. I am interested in therapies that could get my kid's extensive head knowledge integrated with their feelings. In other words, I'm looking for something that would get beyond, say, the intellectual knowledge that they are a decent person and help my kid actually feel that goodness deep down in their soul.

[Grace Hopper]

2 hours ago, cintinative said:

If you happen to own The Body Keeps The Score, there is a discussion of EMDR and how it works that might be helpful.

 

@AmandaVT might be able to clarify, but my understanding is that EMDR really benefits those with a trauma background where talk therapy alone has not helped them move forward.

Body keeps the score goes into deep detail of EMDR. I have a friend who is a therapist who works with a large number of veterans dealing with PTSD. He said EMDR has been very helpful for many of them. 

[lmrich]

 A good friend said that this made all the difference for him, but not for his daughters. (he saw the trauma; they heard about it and  they all lived with it)

[historically accurate]

I have a DD who has done it (a few times along with talk therapy); it worked enough to get her functional but has not "cleared" the trauma. She did not focus on the memory per se (the therapist did not think that she was far enough along to not just shut down if she focused on the memory), just the emotion (which was described by DD as "not safe) surrounding the trauma. 

[East Coast Sue]

10 hours ago, PronghornD said:

It sounds like the patient needs a memory to focus on. What if the trauma is preverbal, and the individual can't actually remember it? I have a very insightful young adult child who has experienced preverbal trauma. I am interested in therapies that could get my kid's extensive head knowledge integrated with their feelings. In other words, I'm looking for something that would get beyond, say, the intellectual knowledge that they are a decent person and help my kid actually feel that goodness deep down in their soul.

My kid had preverbal trauma. His brain had filled in ways of “remembering” what happened which don’t really align with the actual trauma but he was able to use what he thought & remembered to process with EMDR. He really wasn’t triggered at all because his practioner focused on good thoughts and memories and all he had to do was shift or process that during EMDR. Like he could go from one to another as an exercise and it became pretty effortless for him. The EMDR took away his night terrors from the very first session. The terrors had been continuously impacting him for years, multiple times. every. night. And after the first session it was over and never returned. It was amazing and I never thought we’d have experienced such a sudden response. I hope you also have a positive experience- it’s definitely worth it. And like I said before, our practioner discharge my son early so he didn’t need all 8 sessions that we’d agreed to do. 

[East Coast Sue]

27 minutes ago, historically accurate said:

I have a DD who has done it (a few times along with talk therapy); it worked enough to get her functional but has not "cleared" the trauma. She did not focus on the memory per se (the therapist did not think that she was far enough along to not just shut down if she focused on the memory), just the emotion (which was described by DD as "not safe) surrounding the trauma. 

Similarly, my son’s trauma wasn’t resolved but it removed a specific fear and solved the night terror issue which had plagued him. 

[Drama Llama]

On 6/15/2023 at 9:06 PM, BandH said:

Can you ask him what he does in his early sessions? I am very afraid of being triggered to the point that I am not really a functional parent because my need me to parent.

@AmandaVT just wondering if you're willing to ask him.  I know my fear is irrational but he probably has experience with irrational people.  

[KSera]

CPT is another evidence based modality for trauma that you might consider, if you haven’t already https://cptforptsd.com/

[AmandaVT]

19 hours ago, BandH said:

@AmandaVT just wondering if you're willing to ask him.  I know my fear is irrational but he probably has experience with irrational people.  

Oh, I'm so sorry! It's been a week at school, and I totally forgot about this. I just asked him, though. He said it's probably easier to explain with videos. These are the ones he sends to potential clients. He said, for him, the first couple of sessions are generally a lot of talking - assessing whether the client is a good fit for EMDR. 

He says the EMDRIA channel on YouTube is a good one and sends these two videos to clients before they start:

 

Hope this helps!

 

 

 

[Drama Llama]

4 hours ago, AmandaVT said:

Oh, I'm so sorry! It's been a week at school, and I totally forgot about this. I just asked him, though. He said it's probably easier to explain with videos. These are the ones he sends to potential clients. He said, for him, the first couple of sessions are generally a lot of talking - assessing whether the client is a good fit for EMDR. 

He says the EMDRIA channel on YouTube is a good one and sends these two videos to clients before they start:

 

Hope this helps!

 

 

 

Thank you!

Do people get upset, or triggered?  Do things get worse before they get better?

[Jaybee]

You could also look into neurofeedback. A friend's daughter had life-changing results from this in dealing with trauma.

[Drama Llama]

4 hours ago, Jaybee said:

You could also look into neurofeedback. A friend's daughter had life-changing results from this in dealing with trauma.

I think my fear is fear of addressing the trauma.  I don't think it's that I'm actually afraid of moving my eyes back and forth.  

I also have this fear that if I get over my hypervigilance, I'll be undervigilant and bad things will happen to my children.  Because some of my vigilance is from past trauma, but some is also warranted because of our situation. 

[TexasProud]

42 minutes ago, BandH said:

I think my fear is fear of addressing the trauma.  I don't think it's that I'm actually afraid of moving my eyes back and forth.  

I also have this fear that if I get over my hypervigilance, I'll be undervigilant and bad things will happen to my children.  Because some of my vigilance is from past trauma, but some is also warranted because of our situation. 

Just want to say.  I get this.  I don't know how you are NOT hypervigilant if you have reason to be legitimately worried.   When I mentioned it to my therapist, she didn't have good answers. 

[TateyBonetto]

55 minutes ago, BandH said:

I also have this fear that if I get over my hypervigilance, I'll be undervigilant and bad things will happen to my children.  Because some of my vigilance is from past trauma, but some is also warranted because of our situation. 

This is called a "secondary gain" and can be addressed as part of the therapy.

[Jaybee]

1 hour ago, BandH said:

I think my fear is fear of addressing the trauma.  I don't think it's that I'm actually afraid of moving my eyes back and forth.  

I don't know a whole lot about it, but the neurofeedback did not actually have her reliving trauma, aside from the intake conversations. I mean, that may be the part you are wary of, but the actual therapy was not difficult emotionally. After several years of unsuccessful therapy, the daughter was not enthusiastic. After the first appointment, however, she never complained about it again. I know it doesn't work for everybody, and I'm not trying to talk you into anything.

1 hour ago, BandH said:

I also have this fear that if I get over my hypervigilance, I'll be undervigilant and bad things will happen to my children.  Because some of my vigilance is from past trauma, but some is also warranted because of our situation. 

I understand that, though not in the same way or to the extent you have experienced it. I lived overseas for years in places where it was important to be very aware of our surroundings. That is not something that I have shaken off, nor do I really want to.

[PronghornD]

Does anyone have any experience with online EMDR? My young adult does not drive. And they will be moving to another state for grad school halfway through August.

[PronghornD]

Also, if anyone has used an online EMDR provider with good results, please message me info on the provider.

[Big Buckin' Longhorn]

29 minutes ago, PronghornD said:

Does anyone have any experience with online EMDR? My young adult does not drive. And they will be moving to another state for grad school halfway through August.

I provide EMDR online.
 

EMDRIA is the governing body for EMDR certified therapists.

Their website has lots of helpful information, including research studies that show online EMDR is just as effective as face-2-face.
 

There is also a directory of EMDRIA EMDR certified providers. Which state you live in determines which providers are available to you. 

 

Good luck. 

[PronghornD]

12 hours ago, Big Buckin' Longhorn said:

I provide EMDR online.
 

EMDRIA is the governing body for EMDR certified therapists.

Their website has lots of helpful information, including research studies that show online EMDR is just as effective as face-2-face.
 

There is also a directory of EMDRIA EMDR certified providers. Which state you live in determines which providers are available to you. 

 

Good luck. 

Do therapists work in multiple states? Otherwise, I guess we could wait until August when my kid moves for grad school.

Edited July 5, 2023 by PronghornD

[Big Buckin' Longhorn]

3 hours ago, PronghornD said:

Do therapists work in multiple states? Otherwise, I guess we could wait until August when my kid moves for grad school.

It just depends on where the therapist is licensed. Therapists can only see clients in states they are licensed in.

I am licensed in three states and I know many other therapists who are multi-state licensed. Some states offer fairly painless license reciprocity. If a client moves and wants to keep me as their therapist AND the state offers reciprocity, I'll do it. If the state makes it difficult, time consuming, or expensive . . . I offer referrals.