Re:new to emdr

No research on point but I'll tell you my observations after 13 years of doing EMDR all day.

The initial river of emotions is likely to happen at the very beginning, like a bit of decompression, off the top of the work.

As the work continues and one has been decompressed, defenses and distractions are likely to interfere. Its hard to do much EMDR for oneself. That's why the standard protocol is so handy - it accesses and enables the work to be done systematically included working with and through resistances.

If there is habituation, which doesn't usually occur, one can vary the speed or direction of movement and get a shift again. Intellectualizers can be problematic - mental health professionals make lousy clients at times for this reason --- too much thinking. So the EMDR practitioner may need to keep saying, "what's happening in your body" to get people out of their head. For non-intellectualizers (as defenses I mean) cognitions are welcome parts of the process.

Overall I agree iwth your assessment. I always think that the eye movements engage the cortex -- like lifting it up so we can reach in and vacuum out the subcortex.

Metaphorically speaking.

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