EMDR

I was at therapy this morning.. and my therapist says she really wants to try me with EMDR...

has anyone else gone through this type of therapy?

and if so, have you found any benefit to it?

She says that once you practice it, you can do all kinds of exercises, like one that she calls "the container" when you spend an entire session making this imaginary container, you pick what its made of, how dense it is, etc, and then you decide what thoughts go into it that you want to stop disrupting your life. You pick how they go into it, and you close it up so that only one disturbing thought comes out at a time when youre ready to deal with it.

I told her i thought that was just another way of burying things and she said no, its a way of keeping bad thoughts at bay until you choose to deal with them rather then them all jumping out and giving you anxiety at will...

anyone heard of this?

 

EMDR stands for "eye-movement, desensitization, and reprocessing". Although it's not the most commonly used or oldest and most established technique, many people have found it to be surprisingly effective. It usually involves repeated eye movements but can involve some other movement, sound, etc. such as taping your fingers. Desensitization means that you're trying to make the painful/difficult memories affect you less. Reprocessing has to do with essentially looking at those memories in a new way. EMDR is a process you work through that combines these three ideas.

Percycat, you mentioned that it sounds like CBT. It does include aspects of CBT along with some other therapeutic styles. To the best of my knowledge it is most effective and commonly used in people with PTSD. I don't know how well it works or doesn't work with anxiety and/or panic specifically. But therapists must be specifically trained (and possibly certified - not sure) in EMDR in order to use it. Think of it like going to a medical specialist. You don't want to simply let any ole therapist use you to try out this "new and interesting" technique.

Post Edited (Fugs) : 11/4/2010 12:56:13 PM (GMT-6)