Re:Returning to the Scene of the Trauma

I'd bet, with near certainty, that what emerged and bothers her now is a different aspect of the trauma than what was already processed. See, there are different "channels" associated with traumatic memories. In EMDR we process through each channel one by one until the entire memory feels neutral. This can take more than one session. The solution is to go back and finish the work by processing through this new emergent and any other residual channels.

This is most likely to occur when either 1) the memory is recent at the time of the first EMDR so the pieces of it haven't had a chance to consolidate in the brain - this takes a few months to consolidate -- so when the therapist checks the work it seems finished but there is one or more channels "lurking" that aren't connected/consolidated to the others because of the recency.

2) It can happen if the therapist and client run out of time in the session and so stop the EMDR and then don't go back and check the work in the next session to see what if anything remains.

3) It can also happen if the therapist doesn't follow the standard protcol and intervenes unnecessarilly with some "brilliant" therapeutic interpretation that takes the processing offline. The residual material just sits beneath the surface because the work was interrupted by the therapist's talking. That's why an important piece of the training is to teach therapists to keep quiet unless the matrerial is stuck/blocked.

In sum its like vacuuming a house. If you spend a piece of time vaccuming, say, the living room, kitchen and hallway, and then stop, one can hardly be surprised to find the bedroom is still in need of vacuuming.

So it is with traumatic memories.

Replies:

There are no replies to this message.

| Behavior OnLine Home Page | Disclaimer |

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