My Thoughts On EMDR

Let me just get straight to the point. I LOVE IT. I think it is an amazing tool that you can use to literally schedule & plan out your trauma work. One of the reasons I like it so much is that you can actually have power over what you work on and when. During an awakening, so much material comes up. At all times and of any kind. With EMDR you can select whatever themes have been arising within you, and target them so that they can be aided in the integration process. It is one of my favorite tools other than emotional release bodywork & doing my own shadow work.

I dipped my toes into EMDR last year. I was doing it once a week for a brief period of the summer. I recognize now that once a week can be a bit much on my nervous system. Since then, i started Accelerated Resolution Therapy (another form of EMDR) with my therapist and use it ever 2 weeks to a month. I’ve realized that is my sweet spot. I can’t do mentoring sessions for a couple of days afterwards. But if I plan around it, I pretty much can completely make it work for me.

I’ve also noticed that you are really raw after sessions. Sometimes my head feels funny. I can’t think. I can’t really make sense of everything that happened within the session (because it was really subconscious, deeply buried stuff). But if I sleep on it, and get plenty of rest, all of the pieces come together. Usually, if it was a really intense memory, I will have big feelings come up 3 days after which I have to grieve. Other times, I don’t have any after effects and just feel free and light.

I love how there is so much evidence and studies made on the effects of emdr actually resolving PTSD in so many trauma survivors. I love how when I recall certain memories that I’ve done emdr on, I am able to remember the adaptive information and the beautiful moments and resolutions instead of just the pain. The key isn’t to erase memories, it is to bring in the real and new information that the child didn’t have access to. It’s like I get to have a good childhood. I get to help that part of me that is trapped in those memories that remain on a loop.

It really is a miracle for all us CPTSD survivors. It isn’t easy (nor is any trauma work for that matter) but it offers a way, a path for people who have debilitating triggers and symptoms. I’m so glad that so much of the way psychotherapy is going is conducive to what I know in my heart helps heal. Targeting the sensations of trauma in the body, and going through each and everyone of them. We can’t really talk our way out what happened to us (although sometimes that can work). We need to go in & turn towards it fully. EMDR offers a really safe place & modality with steps to do just that.

We all need a treasure trove of tools in our life to get through trauma or an awakening. This is one that I keep coming to time and time again. One that has helped me go through some gut wrenching memories that I am not brave enough to sit through alone. The butterfly tapping used for the bilateral stimulation also has the added benefit of keeping me present and in my body. It just hits all the spots for me.

As you can see, emdr and I are getting married next fall. A match made in heaven. For a girl who is as sensitive as me, its nice to have a modality that my therapist and I can use, that is so conducive to the awakening i’m going through. Do I need plenty of other methods to move through my history? Definitely! And if you’re interested in those please see my video —>
And I will continue forever to share any other tools I find throughout this lifetime that will help us all get through life. That is my promise.

Have you guys ever tried EMDR?

Muah,

Lau lau x