I had tm theropest mention about EMDR . From what I can find out about it , It is a type of hyponosis . If this si so great why is it that they have not used this in the past .

It may sound like hypnosis but it's definitely not.

EMDR stands for Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing. It is a relatively new therapy that a therapist must be certified to practice. It is not a hypnosis but rather a process by which traumatic thoughts that are stuck in your cerebral cortex (back of Brain)are kinda being processes like a binary loop (causing PTSD) It is believed and there is some scientific support that through using light, touch and or sound in alternating points which being talked through, by a certified therapist, a patient can dislodge those thoughts (kinda like moving a log that is causing a log jam)and helping the patient process those thoughts. I met a therapist from NYC who developed the concept process while working as a Community Based Sex Offender Manager.
Myself, I am going through counseling now and my VA Dr. is using Prolong Cognitive Therapy. I am on week 6 of 12 and my Dr. has shown me that I have been making progress. If you wanna chat somemore, give a yell. Bill

I have done EMDR once with my therapist. By concentrating on lights, it is easier to talk about certain thoughts and memories that normally I would have not spoken about had I been able to concentrate on only what I wanted to talk about. I always thoughts EMDR was somewhat of a trick, and some of the memories I did not want to discuss with my therapist came out because I wasn't concentrating more on keeping a certain memory tucked away. It seems very easy to talk about stuff that you haven't talked about before.

However, I would caution anyone before you actually do it. Between EMDR and hypnosis (even though my therapist was unable to get me into a deep state of hypnosis, because I couldn't relax enough for it) there was definitely a fallout after we did this stuff. I had a lot of depression and anxiety when I realized that we had talked about certain topics that I never wanted to discuss with anyone. So even if your therapist thinks these things might be a good idea, I suggest you speak to other people who have gone through it and take awhile to decide if it's good for you. Otherwise, I wish you good luck and safe healing.

Martin

This is the main reason that EMDR needs to be done by someone who is trained and licensed. It is powerful enough to take you down a road you're not ready for. Or it can take you faster than you are ready for. The T needs to be able to make good decisions and to talk you down if you start on a bad trip.

Allen

Be careful with EMDR, even with someone who is licensed and trained. My T was licensed and trained, but I found out that licensing and training are often done once and are not a required "continuing education" type of training. In other words, they learn it once and aren't required to keep current on new information, procedures and data. So while they may be licensed and trained, it may be outdated.

For me, EMDR proved to be quite bad. I suffered a lot of trauma after it and have had a very difficult time overcoming the setbacks. It dredged up a lot of surpressed memories, but never helped me work through them. The depression afterwards was very overwhelming for me.

I agree with martin, take a lot of time to think this through and talk with as many others as you can.

Hello Mike,

I have been undergoing extensive EMDR therapy for 3 months now, and can only say that I think that is assisting my therapy significantly. My T uses a "soft" version which consists of vibrating nodes that you hold that vibrate alternating from left to right. This proves to be amaxingly good at accessing the subconcious and assisting in memory recall.

I think that weharry1959 info is a very accurate de>

I am considering EMDR therapy, but I have been very resistant. The problem is that hypnosis was part of my CSA. I have always been uncomfortable with hypnosis, even watching it on a TV show or even in a cartoon. If I even talk about it, I get extremely tense. Should I avoid EMDR because of this?

Thanks

It's not hypnosis at all. You are fully awake and aware.
For me I sometimes move to another "compartment" when I talk about this stuff.
EMDR is intense, will bring more shit up, can be a royal pain in the ass, but It really helps.

First off let me take a second to thank all the men for serving and defending our country. I did not get a chance to jump on here yesterday to personally thank you all. Also, thank you for standing strong through your abuse then defending all our freedom.

With that said, thank you for bringing up the topic of EMDR. This has been something that I have thought about since I have night terrors and abuse images my when I close my eyes. Others that I have talked to have said that this EMDR may help me.

All of you you that have used EMDR and your insight helps out a lot.

Thanks again and BE STRONG!

Scot