Questions about EMDR

[suffersilence]

I did use EMDR therapy to deal with my fear of change, and fear of attending college. and eventually It did help me overcome my fear of attending College. I did go to school, studied for 2 years, and graduated with a diploma. Im proud of my achievement. However, I am curious about people who have already used EMDR.  I do not want to know details, as I respect their privacy, but  I am curious about how people react to using EMDR.  Did it work?
Based on what I read, it is supposed to have a "adverse" reaction before becoming better. but my question is how worse do it have to be?
When i used EMDR, for me, It felt like it didn't work, as I don't remember, or don't have anything to say.

So is there a specific guideline that a person is supposed to react when using EMDR as a treatment, or it varies from person to person?

Thanks.
Sufferingsilence.

[Blueberry]

My T decided against EMDR in my case so I can't say much. But I do imagine that reactions vary from person to person. We are all individuals after all.

[Kizzie]

Sorry SS but I'm a bit confused - you said that EMDR helped you get over a fear of going to college but then later in your post wrote "When i used EMDR, for me, It felt like it didn't work, as I don't remember, or don't have anything to say."  Could you clarify please?  Tks 

[suffersilence]

well. when I applied for college, I was surprised that I got accepted, and I was surprised that my fear is gone, and I could attend school without experiencing anxiety.   As for EMDR "not working" for me, is that based on my previous counsellor, I told her that I was heavily passionate about bicycling as I found relief for all of my anxiety and emotional distress through this action of riding my bicycle, the counsellor said that it is a form of emdr because its left/right motion of my pedaling that helped me to get relief. (Don't take my advice as I would rather you talk with your counsellor about self EMDR practicing)  When I did EMDR, my counsellor would ask me questions as a standard practice, and I often drew blanks, or cannot remember any trauma or whatnot. so I am wondering did my habit of riding my bicycle already eliminated or reprogrammed my brain to not perceive the trauma as a threat?

Thats what I am wondering.  or is it that I have repressed all of my trauma so deeply and so logically like Spock on Star Trek that it is difficult for me to draw it out?

so Im asking if I am the only one who is having a hard time trying to resolve my issues or not?

S

[Kizzie]

Some people have had success with EMDR while others not so much so it does seem to vary from person to person. A large part of that seems to be the skill/experience of the T and their knowledge of CPTSD and how to use EMDR effectively and safely.   This thread talks more about EMDR if you want to take a look - https://cptsd.org/forum/index.php?topic=11920.0.

[sanmagic7]

hey, suffersilence,

i am an emdr therapist, and, yes, the experience can be different for each person.  what kizzie mentioned about how much the therapist knows and understands about c-ptsd and its varying symptoms will often make a huge difference in how well such a therapy is tolerated by someone, how much prep time re: stabilization and grounding takes place in the beginning, and how the pacing of processing goes - slower or more quickly, depending on the issue being faced, and the sensitivity of the client.

as far as your bicycling goes, it could very easily have had a positive effect on your fears and anxiety because of the bilateral movement of your feet and legs, especially if you were thinking of your situation or having feelings about it.  emdr was actually discovered by a psychologist who was moving her eyes from side to side as she was watching some ducks at a lake.  she noticed that some disturbing thoughts which she had been having were lessened in their intensity and emotional impact after her eye movements. (one side to another is known as bilateral stimulation, which affects a certain place in the brain).

often very young children having experience with emdr are asked to touch or slap one hand of the therapist, then the other (alternating their left and right hands themselves), providing the bilateral stimulation in a tactile way.  i'm not advocating self-therapy in this way to anyone who hasn't been guided thru it by an emdr therapist, just explaining what your therapist might have meant when speaking of your biking experience.  so, yes, it is possible that it could have had something to do with easing your anxieties w/o you knowing it.

as far as having an adverse effect, stimulating parts of the brain can encourage feelings, emotions, other memories to present themselves in the form of dreams or other ways between sessions.  a qualified, trauma-informed T would make you aware of that possibility and give you tools on how to manage it, should something like that happen.  what's happening is that once the brain gets stimulated, it can continue with its processing even after the session is over.  knowing what to expect beforehand is usually very helpful.  many T's suggest keeping a journal between sessions in order to bring to the next session for discussion and possible further processing.

when done correctly, emdr can be one of the best methods i've heard of for help w/ traumatic memories.  once again, the caution is to find a T who is c-ptsd knowledgable and trauma informed.   i hope any of this helps.  any other questions, feel free. sending a caring hug if you like. 

[suffersilence]

thank you Sanmagic.  Yes, I frequently ride my bicycle in my youth to escape bad situation, or If I needed escape from all the anger or whats going on through my life. Even now, if I encounter a bad trigger or whatever happens in my work day, I would go to the gym to bike, or swim, and I do notice that after a specific amount of time such as maybe 20 or 30 minutes, then I can see/feel relief, and calmness coming over me.  But like you said, Yeah I will check into meeting with a therapist who are well versed in EMDR for C-Ptsd. and have this therapist to help me out.

S