my experience with EMDR

November 12, 1999
Ms.Shapiro:
First, a word of thanks and praise for developing this therapy. It is helping me save myself.
I have had two PTSD-inducing events. I was in a car wreck in 1978 in which I saw my best friend fly through a windshield (she died) before I passed out due to head trauma. I was comatose for about a week and suffered a broken femur, shoulder and fractured the fourth and fifth vertebrae (which went undiagnosed until they were herniated). I thought my memory loss was organic but, the flashbacks I had convinced me and my therapist it was not.
During one of my first sessions, I relived the experience so well that I "flew" up as I did in the wreck and lost consciousness. It was very weird and a little scarey. I cried for quite some time during that session.
In 1984 I was raped at gunpoint by an Airborne Ranger.
I have experienced great relief from EMDR for the car wreck. However, I am still having problems with the rape.
My therapist, Dr. Linda Pitts, EdD, speculates the block is my soon-to-end marriage to a Green Beret, an emotionally and physically abusive man. She notes that my flashbacks and panic attacks increased when I met him about 14 months ago and have increased.
Could it be that being around him evokes memories of the rape? I notice that I am more stable since I filed for legal separation (my religious beliefs prevent me from filing for divorce except for adultery) and threw the bum out.
My e-mail address is gllewis@clarksville.net
I would appreciate anything you can tell me about this issue. It's not that I don't have full confidence in my therapist; I just want as much input as I can get.
Thank you,
Grace L. Lewis

Replies:

There are no replies to this message.

| Behavior OnLine Home Page | Disclaimer |

Copyright © 1996-2004 Behavior OnLine, Inc. All rights reserved.