Posted by ClearSkies on December 12, 2007, at 14:11:23
In reply to First EMDR session next week - what to expect, posted by kezia on December 12, 2007, at 10:18:09
Hi, Kezia. There are a few threads here about EMDR if you do a search on it. I had some EMDR as an adjunct treatment to my therapy several years ago for some specific trauma that I was just unable to put behind me.
The preparation for the EMDR treatment took longer than the treatment itself. Appointment after appointment talking about what we were going to do, and NOT do. It was very reassuring to have it so clearly laid out before we started.
My therapist recommended another counselor in the same practice as her who was certified in EMDR (Level 2, I think) - she was trained by the person who had developed the process. She used her finger in front of my face and I followed it with my eyes, back and forth, while she talked me through the particular trauma. Other therapists use noise instead of a visual cue to follow.
Following the treatment I would always feel rather light-headed and ultra sensitive to sights and sounds. The therapist scheduled the treatments later in the evening so I would be able to go straight home and to bed afterwards. I don't think I would have been able to, say, go back to work after a treatment. I found the treatment to be enormously beneficial in clearing the trauma from my immediate thought, and it paved the way for me to be able to deal with deeper and underlying issues in therapy. It was invaluable at the time, and I don't regret having had the treatment at all.
Hope this helps.
ClearSkies
poster:ClearSkies
thread:800329
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20071204/msgs/800364.html