Behavior OnLine Forums

Behavior OnLine Forums (https://www.behavioronline.net/)
-   EMDR (https://www.behavioronline.net/emdr/)
-   -   therapy frustrations (https://www.behavioronline.net/emdr/906-therapy-frustrations/)

Fleurs August 23rd, 2006 09:27 PM

therapy frustrations
 
i have dissociation and i am having a hard time in therapy.

Sandra Paulsen August 24th, 2006 12:51 AM

Re: therapy frustrations
 
I can't comment on your specific case, but I'll make some general comments that may or may not apply in your case.

EMDR should not be done on any person who is highly dissociative without first getting a critical mass of parts on board with the therapy, the therapist, the EMDR itself. Period. And also there must be sufficient stabilization and containment skills in place, and sufficient ego strength and resources, or the EMDR can really go south. It may go well, but it may go south. Suicidal crisis, cutting, not pretty. Clients sometimes put pressure on therapists to do therapy here and now or they'll quit. That's like a patient telling a surgeon when and where to cut and why. The surgeon is a dope if they fall for that. So it any therapist --- we are obligated to know what's at risk and have an appropriate treatment plan. Not just to jump when the client says jump.

REM sleep is household strength EMDR. Everybody gets a lot done in their sleep. DID people have a symphony of parts to get stuff done in their sleep and it can either be beautiful harmonious cooperative music or cacophonous noisy disturbing music (nightmares). And sometimes systems will cooperate with each other, even though they normally wouldn't, just because its better than the alternative, namely, trusting someone on the outside!

So I don't know whether this fits for you, as I said these are general comments based on 15 years of experience with daily EMDR and working with DID folks the whole time.

To self systems everywhere, let harmony rule so healing can complete!

Fleurs August 25th, 2006 08:45 PM

Re: therapy frustrations
 
thank you for your input. i really appreciate it!

Sandra Paulsen August 28th, 2006 03:50 PM

Re: therapy frustrations
 
Not likely. What happens is that EMDR is an associative process, so what it naturally pulls up involves other parts of self. It is possible to planfully work on only a fraction of a piece of work, and leave other parts contained, but there still needs to be system consent. Otherwise, if one tries to go ahead and do EMDR with a part of self when other parts of self are against it, the EMDR will definitely loop (get stuck). That is a big mistake. Far better to set a sufficiency of the self system on board with the benefits of EMDR.

What I typically do is to thank the protective parts of self for their years of keeping her/him safe. They often say they don't want her hurt again. I agree of course, and ask if it would be worth it to undergo the temporary pain of EMDR if it meant long term comfort and having the pain over. Even the crankiest protective parts of self can see the wisdom of that, though they may not believe its possible.

Fleurs August 29th, 2006 08:43 PM

Re: therapy frustrations
 
thanks again for your help and information.

Sandra Paulsen August 29th, 2006 11:03 PM

Re: therapy frustrations
 
EMDRIA site shows members, those who have qualified for certification, and those who are qualified as consultants (who qualify others for certification). Therapists who are not certified may have taken the training but are either 1) qualified but not interested in certification, 2) unqualified for certification or 3) working on certification.

Dissociative clients should have therapists who are qualified to treat dissociative disorders. the website www.issd.org may provide names of qualified dissociation therapists. That's even more important than emdr, since the basics of system work come BEFORE trauma work.


All times are GMT -4. The time now is 06:12 PM.

Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.
Copyright © 1995-2023 Liviant Internet LLC. All rights reserved.