Re:EMDR & 1) Childhood violent sexual abuse.......MY STORY ABOUT EMDR

I appreciate your helpful personal story.

I also want to remind the public and professionals that neither EMDR nor hypnosis should be considered a way to uncover truths. Paradoxically, both can cause people to remember something they had forgotten. Let me explain this apparent paradox.

With both procedures, as with every other brain function, there are sources of error, also called non-deliberate distortion. That means, just because we have a particular image or thought during EMDR, say, doesn't prove it happened exactly that way. EMDR is not a hotline to reality, except to the reality of subjective experience as it has been perceived and understood by a human brain.

In short, we should continue to evaluate any procedure on the basis of its outcome and relief of symptoms, rather than focusing much on the content of the procedure, or using it to uncover memories.

Many clients will find that through their EMDR experience they achieve a resolution of previously unresolved experiences without knowing if the exact particulars recalled are the precise facts.

Replies:

Re:EMDR & 1) Childhood violent sexual abuse.......MY STORY ABOUT EMDR, by Mandi R/TX, 11/14/01

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