Re: Question concerning EMDR

There is no way I can say whether you have dissociative experiences during EMDR or not based on the information you described about your EMDR experience -- screening for a dissociative disorder should, however, always be done before a therapist conducts EMDR on a client.

What is dissociation? Dissociation sometimes occurs at the time of a trauma when the experience was so overwhelming that people basically "check out" and, in a way, "aren't there" to experience the trauma, though their body is there. Sometimes children pretend the trauma was happening to someone else. Sometimes the experience of the trauma just gets held out of awareness in sort of "pockets" or "closets" in the self, and then get triggered during the EMDR. This is part of what EMDR is all about, to process through all the various aspects of an experience, and finally integrate it. However, if someone has an undiagnosed dissociative disorder, the EMDR may not go smoothly. It is important that for dissociative disordered clients the therapist use the right EMDR protocol that basically "unlocks" the closets.

The above description is obviously using metaphors more than science, in order to make some of the concepts easier to understand at a glance. If you want to learn more about dissociative disorders, you could contact the Sidran Foundation. I'd also encourage you to talk to your therapist about any questions you may have.

Finally, many clients reading a list like this sometimes worry that they might have some -- or many -- of the conditions being talked about. That's normal, but it is pretty hard to diagnose oneself, so I'd suggest you not spend much time worrying about figuring it out. If you have questions, talk to your therapist, or if your therapist isn't experienced in this area, s/he should tell you so.

Good luck to you.

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