Safe Place/Addictions

Thank you Dr. Inobe for your comments and to "unknown" for the links to on-line support.

I didn't think very much of the EMDR addiction theory myself. There is no doubt that addictions have been a major issue for me throughout my life, therefore vigilance would be appropriate regarding potential new manifestations. I did consider the comments however just for the heck of it.
When I consider the driving forces behind my addictions, it was all about escaping pain and discomfort, not seeking it. EMDR processing for me has been at times quite painful and has produced all the emotions that I had previously dedicated my life to avoiding through my addictions. That being said, the addiction theory doesn't wash.

On another note both my current therapist and my previous one attempted to assist me to create a "safe place” that ideally I would be able to go to when things became intense. These attempts to create the safe place failed. As I have progressed through EMDR, several times I discovered parts of myself that were what I called "turned away" from each other. It was extremely difficult to let the parts see each other or even acknowledge each others existance. In each of these situations what was required was for the adult part of me to turn inward and let the parts see each other and consequently begin to see each other in a new light. Typically it would take 3 - 4 days to go from a profound desire to run away from the part to being at peace with it. For a period of time during my therapy, we discovered several instances of this. It was as if there were 4 separate parts within me other than my adult self and they were all running in circles desperately trying to avoid one another. I’m thinking that the existence of this phenomenon may be what prevented the successful creation of a safe place. It may be time to try again, in order to provide a new coping adjunct to help me deal with the painful aspects of processing. Any thoughts on this?

Still looking for information on people doing EMDR for longer periods of time. Specifically child abuse survivors. Thanks.

- John

Replies:

Re:Safe Place/Addictions, by unknown :), 08/27/03 Re:Safe Place/Addictions, by Sandra Paulsen Inobe PhD, 08/27/03 Re:Safe Place/Addictions, by lia, 08/28/03 Re:Safe Place/Addictions, by Sandra Paulsen Inobe PhD, 08/28/03 Re:Safe Place/Addictions, by Sandra Paulsen Inobe PhD, 08/28/03 Re:Safe Place/Addictions, by lia, 08/28/03

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