EMDR FORUM ARCHIVE, 2000
Re:Sudden termination of EMDR-HELP!
Sandra Paulsen, Ph.D. · 07/11/00 at 10:32 PM ET
First, I must explain that this forum cannot tailor responses to individual cases, because we don't have enough information here. However, I can offer some general guidelines. Therapists have a responsibility to handle terminations appropriately, to offer referrals, etc. Perhaps there is more to the story than the information provided, that might explain the therapists' hasty letters. I strongly encourage you to find a therapist you can trust to support you through what might feel like an abandonment (though it sounds like you might have initiated the termination). Incomplete EMDRs or EMDRs that are done prematurely in treatment, or without appropriate screening or containment steps being in place first, can result in opening up of old painful "closets" in the self without having a way to contain and close them between sessions. That's why the EMDR training emphasizes a certain sequence of steps. Any EMDR therapist should be able to do the screening, and the containment and safe place/relaxation skills BEFORE the first EMDR. Often the first EMDR is a double session to allow for time to process and contain these feelings of raw wounds. It is very normal to access old and intense feelings of such things as anger, sadness, fear, terror, shame, etc. It is called an "abreaction" though it can be more complicated than that. EMDR therapists are trained to handle it. Installations should come at the end of each standard EMDR session. Resource installations might be done to strengthen peoples internal coping abilities before doing additional EMDR or before doing it the first time. When people feel like a child after an incomplete EMDR session it sometimes means (I'm not sure in your case) that the EMDR accessed a "closet" in the self that has been sort of stuck since childhood. We call it ego states, or state specific experiences, that are untouched by time. It can be scary if the preparation isn't in place for it. Again, I can't say much about your specific experience, the above is very general, but you might print this off and talk to the EMDR therapist you are considering working with to see if she seems familiar with the concepts of "safe place", containment procedures, ego states, and resource installation. Good luck to you on your journey. Sandra Paulsen, PhD
Walnut Creek California
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