EMDR

Hello,

I am new to the forum and was wondering if anyone has tried EMDR Therapy? I have my first appointment at the end of the month.

James

No, I have not but was also wondering the same question as I plan on doing this as well. Sorry I am not of any help. Good luck! Hope to hear how it works for you!

Chantel~

I have.

It was actually surprisingly painless and simple. In my experience it entailed "moving your eyes a certain way while verbally expressing painful memories and emotions". Felt a little silly. I would do it again in a heartbeat.

I went to talk therapy around age 17-18 for childhood trauma, but the same issues resurfaced around age 22. Flashbacks, intrusive memories, all that good stuff. I couldn't free myself from the pain. I did EMDR with a therapist and have been completely free from those painful memories ever since. I can objectively talk and, think about my experiences and they invoke no emotion. No emotion. Awesome.

I have not done EMDR. However, I can recommend EMI or IEMT, which are both similar to EMDR in some ways. The main difference is that EMI and IEMT are not so secretive and they also use additional eye movement patterns, which, reportedly can be more effective than the single horizontal pattern typically used in EMDR. If anyone is ever interested in more information about how these, let me know, and I'd be glad to post more details.

If anyone has more information about their experiences with EMDR, I would really like to hear them. I have been considering trying this for a number of months, but I have a few concerns:

I am a writer and painter -- I often use my past experiences to shape and influence my work. I am hesitant to "mess" with this. The way my psychologist framed it was that, in effect, I will be like a passenger on a train -- witnessing the emotion through the window, but not actively feeling it. I will still think what happened to me is terrible, but I will not be consumed by it. Theoretically, this is a good thing. However, if I am not consumed by it, will I feel an impetus to express my emotions about it? I have come to terms with what happened to me by thinking that, in some way, I can make beauty out of it through my art. If I can't connect with the emotions, how will I be able to honor them? I am not sure that the gains here outweigh the price. Is the peace worth the "coldness"?

I would really appreciate any thoughts on the matter, especially from either someone who has been through EMDR, or another artist.

Old original post, but adding my 2¢ in case it's helpful for future readers.

I've done traditional EMDR with my therapist a handful of times. It does feel silly at first, and I mainly just focus mentally on the traumatic events, rather than speak them aloud. I do feel a wave of relief wash over me. Has it fixed me? Not yet. I suffer from rapid thought cycling, anxiety, avoidant disorder, etc...

I have had an exceptionally bad week and decided to do some digging. There are "self help EMDR" or "DIY EMDR" YouTube videos that, while not traditional EMDR, have given me a SUPREME sense of calm in roughly 15 minutes.

I am not a professional, I cannot say whether or not this really works, but for me, I feel pretty stable right now, and for the past 3-4 days have not been. Perhaps psychosomatic, but whatever the case, I'm digging it.

The first video gives a lot of text explanation of what EMDR is, what it's used for, and the end result hoped to be achieved. The second video is less texty, but calmed me much more than the first... I do, however, think I'll continue to use both, as I see merit in each. Best of luck.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOghtQK ... e=youtu.be

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OVi7yX9X35A