EMDR - Has anyone done this

@Doglover Hi Doglover with my psychologist she said to me that reliving past trauma was not good for me as after a few days the trauma would come back again. Nasty and raw. She said it was far better for me to leave it in the past as much as possible and I would have to agree with her. O hope this helps.

@Doglover I am very blessed to have a great team around me - all who have given me ongoing support over the last few years. My GP does bulk bill - I know it is up to the individual GP how they bill people but most GPs should bulk bill when dealing with a patient with a chronic illness. It might be worth a conversation with you GP about that.

The road to get to my present work place was indeed a hard one. When I returned to work it was at the school I had been at for over 10 years - and to say they were less than supportive is an understatement. I requested a move at the end of the year and landed in the school I am at presently ...that was one of the best moves I have ever made. Along with leaving behind the difficulties of the previous school I also found myself in a very supportive environment. The difference in support of both schools are poles apart so I am so grateful I was placed where I currently am.

I hope your workplace keeps the, position open for you and you can return in your own time. I needed to go back to work last year because all my options for continuing income had run out. I really was not ready but had to make it work. It was extremely hard to do but I also knew I had school holidays coming up so pushed through those weeks, Again though I had incredible support from my team and was still doing DBt at the time so had extra support there also.

It must be said that it took me and my team over 2 years to find medication that worked for me - so take some heart in that. I had a lot of adverse effects and side effects for many of the meds we tried - including constant SI and a couple of unsuccessful attempts. I have also recently had another med change as after some time the previous med was no longer being as effective as it once was. This is one area my pdoc is great for. She listens to me carefully and I am very open with her about how I am going. Do you have a pdoc you see Hon? They are often more up to date with meds than GPs.

I know right now it may all feel a little too difficult to see any positives in life or indeed to be able to look forward to anything in the future but with everything I have been through and where I am now I can say that there is some hope @Doglover. I honestly could not see that hope for myself but my team and the wonderful people here on the forum kept holding that hope for me for a long time and even though life is still really hard that is one thing I can now see for myself also ...hope - hope that things can get better, hope that there is a life in the future worth living and hope that I can beat this enough to function again in this world. So if you take anything from this post - take away a little hope for yourself - and the support from me to help you find that hope within yourself when you are ready to see it for yourself. More than happy to walk this journey with you just as others have done for me

https://www.healthline.com/health/emdr-therapy

https://www.emdr.com/what-is-emdr/

Hi @eth , i rly dont know what to say to all that u hav shared of urself and ur journey but thank u. You hav bn through so much, and i am so sorry for all u hav bn thru (i know u didnt shsre it with me for sympathy, but to help me).

I appreciate all that u hav shared and all the insight u hav given. And i am glad that u have found emdr so helpful for u.

My psychologist said i wld probably need 2-3 sessions of emdr but that sounds like an underestimate to me! Its good to know that the talking therapy is helpful too and that things hav improved for u as a result of both emdr and talking therapy. Its great that u r now funded for weekly psychologgy. Finances are a huge issue for us but i dont believe i meet the criteria for NDIS support.

Im rly tired @eth and struggling to continue with this post, but just wanted u to know that i really appreciate what u hav shared and ur support.

I wish u all the very best in ur continued journey of recovery.

Doglover 💛

Edit: I apologise eth that my reply really hasnt given justice to all the time and effort u put into ur post. Im just drained at the moment with very little sleep and very severe symptoms. I hope u understand.

Take care @Doglover and thankyou for acknowledging my post. I really hope at least parts of it were helpful to you. Rest up and focus on self-care for a while perhaps.

Thanks for ur understanding @eth . I wld love to hav a sleep but my mind is racing and my body on hyper stimulus, as they both were all last night hence little sleep. Things r not going well. All my symptoms seem to b getting worse and i dont know why. And it doesnt seem to matter what meds they try, nothing helps and most make it worse. At my wits end. Cant even rest and recouperate!

Hi @utopia , thank u very much for ur reply and for sharing ur experience, which sounds like a positive one for u. It does concern me that i will hav only had 2 apptmts with psych before commencing emdr if i did it, also i am in an extremely bad way anxiety wise and it is currently not controlled, so that puts me off a bit. I am having terrible symptoms every waking moment of every day, so im wondering if mayb now is not the right time. But ur experience does sound very positive and i thank u for sharing it with me. Im glad u were able to move thru that trauma as a result of ur sessions.

Thanks again for ur feedback.

@Doglover do you have to wait long to see your pdoc? Sounds like a talk with them and maybe a meds tweak could be good. Hoping you have good support from them or at least your GP.

Hello again @Doglover (I love dogs too btw 🐶)

You mentioned my level of self-insight (thankyou) and how long it took to achieve this. Well, my mental health began to decline in 1993, hit the skids in 2008 and broke me in 2014. So, it's around 26 years. Recovery has been a long, painful winding road.

I have multiple trauma's to contend with and trialed many therapists, counsellors and doctors along the way. That's one commonality among many sufferers; finding the right fit.

I attribute much of my learning to self-help books, YouTube, research papers, psych text books and trial/error with self assessment and strategies to change. Identifying personal behaviors and character flaws that contribute to interpersonal conflict and putting myself at risk, has also helped.

Most of the work I've done has been at home; therapy provides much needed knowledge and professional advocacy. Medication's been a source of great support, especially treating symptoms themselves so my mind could function better for coping. I was first prescribed anti depressants without much success, then added anti anxiety med's which changed my world for the better. I don't know if I'm allowed to mention this, but considering I haven't said brand names, I think it should be ok.

I've found the biggest problem comes from childhood beliefs about the world and people in general. AM I SAFE? This question still affects my ability to make decisions, prioritise, venture outside on some days and dictates my mood.

I've learned to COPE. It's not a cure, but instead a way to manage the disorder. Acceptance therapy (letting go) was painful, but a huge game changer along with learning about forgiveness.

More recently, I've learned about the brain and its relevance to healing. This separated me, the person, from primal processes of brain function that occur for everyone when dealing with trauma. It meant I was off the hook for many problems I faced thinking I wasn't strong enough or doing enough or being enough.

Learning about adrenaline/cortisol (which I think may be an underlying problem for you atm) and their relevance to the fight/flight/freeze response (ptsd) was also a huge help. Our bodies exhibit symptoms reflecting these processes, not due to our inability to be 'enough'.

Treating the brain as well as thoughts/emotions/behavior is a more holistic approach. Trauma damages the brain, real damage that causes physical scar tissue and abnormal reactions to stimuli. This can start as early as infancy. It's an 'organ' that learns from experience just like a computer. Therefore healing requires reprogramming. This is one premise behind EDMR.

Considering this, in therory, edmr seems rational and workable. But as shown, it works for some and not others. I agree with @Former-Member;

"In retrospect for me working on my personal complex trauma, whether it was emdr, psychoanalysis, exposure therapy... was like poking in a bees nest, probably more wasps. I'd work on one part of one trauma, and unleash other parts or other traumas, and yes, it was retraumatising. I was yearning for a quick fix..."

So processing 'complex' trauma (c-ptsd) as opposed to a one off event, needs to be considered when making your decision. So be aware that one door may open another, and another, and another.

Whew, I'm pooped; been dealing with my own set of issues today. I do hope all goes well for you tomorrow though. Best of luck!

Hope xo

Hi @Appleblossom ,

Yes i wonder if the psych just said 2-3 sessions to hook me in bcoz if she said 20-30 or more i wld hav run a mile. Not sure, mayb thats not being fair to her. Im hoping she can offer other aspects of therapy that will b beneficial if i dont go with the emdr.

There is no doubt my husband loves me, but as u said, men often hav difficulty with emotional stuff and that is definitely the case here. I was a very confident, capable, oitgoing and fun loving person before this hapnd, now im an emotional wreck and he just cant handle it. Apart from the odd occasion when he is there for me emotionally, mostly he just distances hinself, or sometimes gets annoyed/frustrated/angry at me for being the way that i am. And thats rly tough. I get that he doesnt know how to deal with it, but it disappoints me that hes not willing to try.

Thanks again for ur support. Xx