Re:EMDR & Meditation Questions.

Lindsay, it might help you to take some training in EMDR to get a better understanding of how it works, the process. Or, if you can and are interested, to do a few sessions with someone trained in the procedure/process. That way you can get first hand experience. You might also get some books written about it, I believe that Shapiro's latest book has more updated and relevant info than her first book. Someone else may have more info on that as I have not read the books.

Some of your questions are not relevant to emdr from my perspective and seem more relevant to meditation. In the 2nd group of questions #s 1-5 are not relevant to emdr as far as I know. I don't close my eyes during emdr if I am doing eye movements. If some other form of bilateral stimulation is used - alternate tapping I may close my eyes so as not to be distracted by the room about me, however, I generally do not close my eyes. Emdr does not require moving, I can sit quite still as the processing continues - except in my case I do tend to move a bit as I experience sensations, feelings etc. I have a kinesthetic (hope that is spelled correctly) type response more than anything else. emdr does not focus on breathing although there may be a point where the therapist will have the client to do so if necessary to help the client manage what is happening/has happened during the emdr session. That is, if I get overwhelmed by the session or want to stop it for some reason or if my therapist makes the decision to stop based on his/her observations then he/she may have me focus on breathing to help me settle down, to relax a bit etc. However, it is not a part of the emdr process that I know of. Someone else may correct my understanding of this.

I have a reply to the first three questions you posed and will post these later. Hope the above helps. Perhaps a professional trained in emdr can give you more info. Maybe there is someone out there who is trained and experienced in/with both meditation and emdr and he/she can provide clarity and info to you.

Replies:

Re:EMDR & Meditation Questions., by , 02/09/02 Re:EMDR & Meditation Questions., by , 02/11/02

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