Re:Feelings with no memories

You may be aware that we can't do case consultations here, so I will make a few general comments. That's because this is serious business and we oughtn't make recommendations to individuals with fragmentary information.

First off, I'll say what I always say to posters here: people with complex trauma histories should always be screened for a dissociative disorder before they do EMDR because the protocol is entirely different than for PTSD. (I'm not saying you're dissociative - I'm sure I don't know, but this is always the first order of business). Additionally, it should be assessed whether the person has sufficient ego strength/resources and make sure those are in place. For dissociative people, there may need to be a period, sometimes a long period, of stabilization and containment and resourcing before standard EMDR is conducted. Otherwise, the EMDR "loops" on dissociated material or parts of self.

In some self systems, dissociative or non-dissociative, angry parts of self serve as protectors against intrusion, and they block processing, causing the EMDR to "loop" with a high level or disturbance without resolution. Ego state therapy is needed to make sure those parts of self are on board with the treatment and are oriented to present time, place and person. Often they think they are perpetrators (perp introjects).

Even for non-dissociative disordered individuals, however, it can happen that certain channels of traumatic material may process without other channels processing, for example, body or emotion but not cognition.
In short, it is up to the EMDR therapist to do the necessary screenings and assessments prior to doing EMDR on anybody, and to take the appropriate steps to make sure the person is tolerably comfortable between sessions. Some people need to get consultation too. EMDR shouldn't continue if it is not resolving and is extremely destabilizing. Other steps described above need to be conducted for such people before EMDR is tried again.

Replies:

Re:Feelings with no memories, by ls, 12/01/03 Re:Feelings with no memories, by Brian, 12/01/03 Re:Feelings with no memories, by Sandra Paulsen PhD, 12/02/03 Re:Feelings with no memories, by Brian, 12/02/03 Re:Feelings with no memories, by Sandra Paulsen PhD, 12/02/03 emdr and depression, by ls, 12/02/03 Re:emdr and depression, by Sandra Paulsen PhD, 12/02/03

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