Re:EMDR and Involuntary body movements

I can't say for sure in your case, but I'll make some general comments.

Involuntary movements, surprising body sensations that move around, surprising images, thoughts or emotions, occasionally occur as part of normal EMDR processing. There are other amusing phenomena, such as EMDR burps, and the more common EMDR sleepiness. One EMDR practitioners, Maureen Kitchur, associates them with very early traumatic experience (say, under five years old). This is all anecdotal by the way, there are no studies on this phenomenon).

To me, EMDR is alot like vacuuming. Some of us have things that have remained hidden for decades, and need to be cleaned out. In the process of vacuuming a sofa, we aren't surprised to run across a dime, a pen, or a stray paper clip. We may be more surprised to find a missing earring, a crust of bread, or a small statue of Ganesh from Bombay, (the latter is especially surprising if we have never owned one or expected to find one).

In EMDR, sometimes these odd "findings" are comprehensible -- a visual image or some remembered words make sense in the context of the trauma being processed. Sometimes, however, as in body twitches, certain peculiar body sensations, or other phenomena, the connections to the trauma may not be evident or interpretable. As with vacuuming, it doesn't really matter much, as long as the results hold.

The only time to be at all concerned about it is if it loops, that is, if the EMDR gets stuck and won't resolve, so that the peculiar sensation remains paramount in attention, without resolution or change. That's when a qualified EMDR therapist starts doing the fancier footwork to get things going.

What EMDR therapists say to clients at times like this is "just notice it", "just notice it". We honor and observe as the phenomena pass through on their way to resolution.

Sandra Paulsen Inobe, PhD
Walnut Creek, California

Replies:

Re:EMDR and Involuntary body movements, by Amigeaux, 01/18/01 Re:EMDR and Involuntary body movements, by Sandra Paulsen Inobe, PhD, 01/18/01

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