EMDR - what the heck is it and will it help?

If you are having Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) you may fall into one or more of three categories:  

• intrusive memories
• avoidance and numbing
• increased anxiety or emotional arousal (hyperarousal)

You may have someone suggest EMDR treatment to you. EMDR stands for Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing and is a treatment for PTSD.

In EMDR, a patient brings to mind emotionally unpleasant images and beliefs about themselves related to their traumatic event. With these thoughts and images in mind, patients are asked to experience bi-lateral stimulation as guided by the therapist.

I traveled to New England to receive EMDR but you can find a local clinician.

 In your first session, the clinician will likely explain how EMDR might be used to address the specific concerns you have identified - and help you to identify the "target(s)" for EMDR reprocessing - the particular feeling(s), memory(ies), belief(s), or situation(s) that has been problematic for you.

There are different types of bilateral stimulation. Your clinician may use ear phones, tappers held in your hands, lights that can be followed by your eyes or various types of music with embedded bilateral sounds.

Using bilateral stimulation, you explore positive resources in your mind. EMDR is very effective at enhancing positive images, thoughts, and memories. Later, when working with upsetting targets, you can return to these positive resources as a place of safety, support, and calm.

As you think about the target - bilateral stimulation helps your mind "reprocess" the target by allowing your mind to move towards new thoughts and feelings. "Desensitization" occurs when there is a decrease in the anxiety or negative emotions associated with the target. When you no longer find the target disturbing, you have arrived at "adaptive resolution".

How many sessions will be needed? 

Repeated studies show that EMDR can be extremely effective in as few as three sessions - compared to years in more traditional forms of therapy (see the Journal of Anxiety Disorders, vol.13,1999). Often one might anticipate 6 sessions and an assessment on whether to continue or to conclude EMDR. The time frame of the work will largely be determined by your needs and goals.

I used EMDR and it has been highly effective for me. I had a talented clinician and attended 8 sessions. I highly recommend EMDR.

Love, 

Kim

What a Panic Attack Feels Like

I just was PMing with a friend who is facing the possibility of some serious life-threatening information. He is already having sleep disruption and anxiety. As a preventative measure, I shared with him what a panic attack feels like in the beginning... so that if he should start to careen down that slippery road that he would know what to do.


Likely, if you know what one is and possess the tools to address it in advance, you will be far ahead of most people in dealing with it and can even prevent it from developing.


Panic attacks usually begin abruptly, and may reach a peak within 10 minutes. It might feel like:

• a heart attack 
• a "flashing vision" 
• feeling faint or nauseated
• a numbing sensation all over
• tunnel vision
• labored breathing or hyperventilation with the feeling of not being able to get air
• trembling, heart palpitations, chest pain or tightness, 
• hot or cold flashes, sweating, dizziness, light-headedness,
• tingling sensations, sensations of choking or smothering
• difficulty moving and disassociation

A panic attack is a response of the sympathetic nervous system.

Often a panic attack is incorrectly self-diagnosed as a heart attack and the sufferer ends up in an emergency room. It is not unwise to allow an electrocardiogram to rule out a heart attack. Better safe than sorry.


As a refresher, I have 2 other posts that compliment this one:


Working with your life in times of upheaval:
grounding-throughout-impermanence

Preventative information should you feel a panic attack coming on:
grounding-technique-for-panic-attacks
 
Love,
Kim

Post Trauma Recovery

MSNBC.com on post trauma:

Some never recover. But most do. In fact, nearly two thirds of trauma victims, even those who had extreme pain, say they ultimately benefited from the aftermath of their experience, according to the research of Richard G. Tedeschi, Ph.D., professor of psychology at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Tedeschi and his colleagues have tracked outcomes for people who survived accidents and other traumas, such as life-threatening illnesses or the death of a child, and identified a phenomenon they call post-traumatic growth: Some survivors grow closer to people they love; others develop a sense of personal strength or appreciation for life. Still others deepen their spiritual beliefs or change their career and life goals. Women are more likely than men to report these benefits, and even those who are most impaired at first can find their way, as Ferganchick did, to feeling enriched by their ordeal.

What can these women teach the rest of us? As researchers learn more about what makes people resilient, they hope to develop therapies that could lessen negative responses and promote post-traumatic growth instead. “It’s not about getting over it‚ it’s about processing it in the most meaningful way,” Tedeschi says. “You still have your fears and grief and suffering, but you have made your suffering meaningful. If you can learn to do that, you can get through the bad stuff in life and find value in the struggle.”