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What is it like to go through EMDR therapy?

5 Answers
Last Updated: 07/17/2018 at 4:36am
1 Tip to Feel Better
United States
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Stacy Overton, PhD.

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I am an enthusiastic life-long learner and also a professor of counseling. I have a passion for peoples stories and helping to guide and empower the human spirit.

Top Rated Answers
KristenHR
- Expert in PTSD
April 3rd, 2017 5:13am
EMDR is a pretty intensive treatment that has great results for trauma work and some other issues. It helps to reduce the intensity of the memory or struggle that is being faced, A light bar is placed at eye level. The counselor will turn it on and your eyes follow the light as it moves back and forth. During the process of this treatment, you'll continue to process in this way until the issue no longer causes the distress it once did. EMDR requires special training by the counselor.
Anonymous
January 13th, 2017 4:42pm
First I must say that EMDR should only be done with the guidance of an EMDR trained therapist. There is a separate certification for it. I watched her finger as she moved it from left to right while keeping my head still. She will ask you questions and you respond. You have to be able to identify emotions for it to be fully effective. (Brain Spotting works better if you have dissociative issues.) Things continue to come up between sessions, so you need a good support group. It's hard to explain what it feels like. It's different and freeing. I've been through it and still can't explain what happened during a the sessions, but it makes the memories tolerable and less triggering.
Anonymous
January 31st, 2017 2:39pm
I have only done this with my psychologist once but if you feel safe and you have a bad memory of something. The psychologist will sit right next to you and ask you to think about the memory that is really scary. You do not have to say the memory out loud just think about it. Then the psychologist will move there finger from left to right lots of time and ask you how you are feeling. It is ok to be scared but you have to keep your head still and keep following the finger. Some how it helps because then you can think about the memory but you don't feel scared when you think about it.
specialShell35
March 22nd, 2017 10:07am
Well you can be helped from negative emotions. It has to deal a lot with eye theraphy for victims of sexual abuse, and other forms of sexual abuse, it is supposed to help with ptsd. It causes you to have more positive thoughts at times.
Anonymous
July 17th, 2018 4:36am
It helped me with calming my mind. There are lots of varieties and time lengths. I liked to do EMDR therapy before going to bed to cam my mind.