Anyone Ever Tried EMDR

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-17-2004
Anyone Ever Tried EMDR
5
Tue, 02-22-2005 - 3:20pm

My counselor has suggested EMDR as a possiblity to help me deal with the trauma of the abuse. Things just don't seem to be getting any easier even though I've really been working hard to move on for myself and my two girls. I know that being caught up in the whole divorce process doesn't help, but it would be such a relief to not live through the past over and over again every single day.

Has anyone else had any experience with EMDR? If so, was it helpful to you? Or not?

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-12-2003
Tue, 02-22-2005 - 3:25pm

K -


I have zero idea what EMDR is.

CL-Blueliner4

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-17-2004
Tue, 02-22-2005 - 3:34pm

I'm sorry! It's Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing. I only have a limited knowledge of what it involves right now because I've just started researching it, but basically it's a treatment that involves focusing on specific situations or disturbances, bringing up specific memories or negative thoughts while simultaneously moving your eyes back and forth following the therapists fingers or a light source; journaling for a period of time; re-evaluation of the sessions; processing the events.

That's a really simplified explanation and probably not very good, but my understanding is that it can be quite a traumatic treatment while a person is going through it, but that many people have found it to be very helpful in that after they've completed it, it's helped them to put trauma into a sort of "historical perspective", I guess.

A part of me isn't sure about it because it sounds sort of strange, another part of me is willing to try anything at this point to feel better.

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-12-2003
Tue, 02-22-2005 - 3:39pm

Sounds like a bad visit to an opthamologist, IMO.

CL-Blueliner4

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-25-2003
Tue, 02-22-2005 - 4:41pm

Hi there,

I have never personnaly tried EMDR, but a co-worker of mine has and she said she had a good experience with it. The idea is to have you think through the experiences so that eventually you will be desensitized to them, so your reaction to those memories would not be as strong. That is a very simplified explanation.

What I do know is you need to make sure the therapist using it is trained and licensed or has a certificate to practice EMDR. Sometimes they will say that they have had the training, but don't have the certificate or license.

Good luck!

Liz

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
Wed, 02-23-2005 - 12:15pm

I have actually done EMDR and it worked really well for me, only with me I could not do the eye movement thing so my therapist tap lightly on the back of my hands, which has the same effect as folowing something with your eyes as it gets your brain using both parts if I remeber correctly, it has been like five years since I did it.

Yes you need to be sure that your therapist has been trained properly, mine went to a conference for three days where that is all they did and then she gave me the information to read so I could make my own informed decision. I don't know if your therapist told you this or not, but when I was doing my EMDR she told me that I could stop at any time if the thoughts got to be to bad, and we could process it then instead of waiting until the session was over, so in a way you are in control. It is hard work but I got great results from it and while it does not make you forget your abuse it does help you to not be so focused on it and you can get on with living your life to the fullest. I have to be honest and say that this therapy is one of the few that actually did work for me.