On EMDR for DDNOS & DID

Well, again I am limited in what I can offer to a specific case --- remember, I don't know your story, can't see you, don't know your history. So let me make a few general comments that aren't tailored to you, but are about DDNOS and DID in general.

The EMDR protocol for both conditions is very similar, and requires getting the agreement and cooperation of a large part of the self before beginning EMDR. This is important because EMDR can "wake up" parts of the self that have been "sleeping" for a long tme, and can be quite startled by EMDR's ability to bring forward long-forgotten (by the front part of the self) traumatic material.

There are often parts of the self that are fiercely protective of injured fragile and young parts of the self. If those parts are not on-board with the EMDR treatment plan, that is, willing to allow temporary discomfort in the name of long-term healing and wholeness, then the whole EMDR process can go astray.

Any EMDR therapist working with either DDNOS or DID clients needs to know how to get this kind of informed consent from the self system, to prevent problems in processing. A protocol for this work is available for free on my website at www.paulsenconsulting.com under the heading "articles for professionals". If you print this note out and take it to your therapist, you can have a conversation to determine whether the therapist is familiar with a protocol for the work. There are other protocols as well, offered by Shirley Jean Schmidt, Carol Forgash, Steve Lazrove & Catherine Fine, Maggie Phillips, and others.

Finally, there are many posts about dissociation in the archives to this forum, for your review.

Sandra Paulsen Inobe, PhD
Walnut Creek, California

Replies:

Re:On EMDR for DDNOS & DID, by SometimeIAmME, 09/24/00

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