If you've had EMDR therapy, can you tell me if it will help with very low self esteem issuesm

[CannotCopeWithIt]

I've basically had social anxiety - really bad since very early childhood and I've tried CBT but wasn't helpful. During the sessions we realised that I had very very low self esteem and that it was probably the cause of the social anxiety. My NHS sessions abruptly ended and that was that.

I've been reading about EMDR and would really like to try it out but I'm not sure if its suitable for self esteem / social anxiety.

For those of you who've had it, do you think it will help.

I've had EMDR therapy for trauma and it helped me deal with the root cause of my issues. Can you ask your local NHS psychological therapies team to see if they can give you more info if they have an EMDR practitioner?

Also interested in the answer to this!

Do you have specific memories that have triggered your low self esteem?
My understanding of EMDR is that it aims to change how traumatic memories are stored in the brain. I was interested because my DC has early trauma but because the trauma was pre verbal and there isn't an actual memory of it I'm not sure EMDR will help

QueenieMum when I contacted my local NHS they said they do treat social anxiety but the therapist will see fit which therapy to use cbt or EMDR or whatever

IfIShouldFallFromGraceWithGod I have early memories of when I was young and was humiliated/ screamed at etc which were very traumatic for me but its not these isolated incidents that are the cause of how I am. More an accumulation of emotional neglect/ bullying/ being left out etc by family / school. All these little little things from an early age has all given me a bad message about myself.
So it's not like I had a single horrific traumatic experience and that's the cause like PTSD.

This is why I'm not sure if it will help someone like me. I honestly have lived my life not understanding why I'm so broken and so unfixable.

pastyballbag do you have self esteem and social anxiety issues too?

@CannotCopeWithIt I would go with the choice your therapist thinks is best for you right now. If anything comes out of therapy that would benefit from a different treatment I would hope your therapist would say so. You should always discuss your treatment with your therapist anyway so be honest and ask as many questions as you need to, including about types of therapy. Your therapist should be able to tell you the benefits of their therapy choice and reasons why another treatment might not be as beneficial right now. Open and honest dialogue on both sides is always best for therapy I think.

I have had EMDR and honestly can't see how it would help for anxiety unless you would have it for the reason for the anxiety.

*QueenieMum" at the time I had CBT on the NHS I didn't know about EMDR or even that they even offered it tbh so couldn't ask the therapist if she thought that was ok

I think it helps to know how emdr seems to work. Not how it actually works, but the sensation from it.

Imagine you've got a work desk, and all the worst high pressure"stuff" had been on your desk for years. You can't avoid it, it's the first thing you see every day, and it haunts toy after you've left work.

After emdr it's as if you've very sensibly filed it all away in the cabinet in your office. You still know where it all is, you can still refer back to a piece of paper as easily, but it's compartmentalised, and not in your face every minute.

I would say that, if your memories make you anxious, or have left you with anxiety, I would expect it to help because you are no longer so reactive to said memories. They're there, but don't make you jump anymore.

As pp said, with taking advice, but also remember that every psychotherapist had their own selection of approaches, they don't all do everything, so you might be asking advice from someone who only does cbt for PTSD.. whatever.

I had it for generalised anxiety disorder and it was transformative. In a good way. I had it after several sessions of CBT & counselling.

The practitioner did take me back to various underlying issues but honestly I cant pinpoint where the anxiety stems from. It just is.

I expect the skill of the practitioner to go in the right direction would be critical in how useful you would find it.

SunshineCake I do want it for the anxiety and the negative core beliefs that I have but I don't know the reason why I have these core beliefs. There's no single incident that caused it but a million small crappy things that have accumulated over my developmental years that's caused it.

Catmint that's exactly my thing. I have generalized social anxiety disorder. Like you I don't know why I'm like this. I just am.

If you don't mind me asking when you did the actual EMDR, did you use an anxiety inducing memory or did you focus onto a negative thought. I'm not sure how it worked for you. If you could explain, if you don't mind.

Im going to speak to a local private EMDR specialist to ask directly whether it can help me. I am thinking of a combination of CBT and EMDR would be beneficial fot me personally.

EMDR has an evidence base for PTSD and trauma only. The therapy is a way of re-laying memories. So I personally wouldn't recommend it for low self-esteem.

And it may be worth getting advice from someone more independent than the person who will make a profit from doing the therapy.

I have to completely disagree with what iborgia has said. In my experience of actually having EMDR for a specific trauma I wouldn't describe it like that at all though I can see a bit why they might think that is a good way to describe it.

EMDR has primarily been used for PTSD and specific traumas, however, recently it has been used for a range of anxiety disorders.

I have just been in contact with a consultant clinical psychologist who works for the NHS and he has kindly replied and said that he does think it will help for low self esteem / social anxiety.

I think it could potentially help. As PPs have said, it's so far been used (and has evidence in the treatment of) PTSD, where there is - usually - one major traumatic event. However it is now being proposed for other anxiety disorders short of PTSD on the basis that most anxiety has its roots in past events, often not one single occurrence but, as in your case, the cumulative effect of many lesser traumas.

In its original form you would be asked to re-create the event in your mind and hold it there while the therapy took place. Now it's being used where you would hold the memory of how you felt repeatedly when those cumulative traumas occurred.

OP it's not the same as having a real human therapist, but there are many EMDR resources online, and just as online CBT is gaining in evidence of therapeutic benefit so too is EMDR. If you want to try it, please read up on it first so that you know what to expect www.emdr.com/what-is-emdr/. Then use something from youtube like this [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wUO561NIGY
]].

BUT, BUT, BUT you need to be aware that EMDR can cause a very strong emotional reaction at the time, and that it can make you feel extremely upset and vulnerable. If you're with a therapist they should be able to create an environment in which you feel safe and that your emotions won't totally overwhelm you. (And that if they do, that the therapist will be there to ensure that you stay safe.) IF you decide to self administer, please make sure that you have someone you can call on for support if you need it. Many people have said that it's helped them hugely with anxiety, but it's not something to undertake lightly.

Hi OP,

I think the practitioner did a bit of both. She definitely did get me to go back to some memories that may underlie my anxiety, but I think she also helped me to explode some negative patterns of thinking.

I dont remember it all that well, my memory is rubbish- just another helpful sideline of the anxiety! But also, it was actually a little bit trance-like, and utterly exhausting.

Thanks Catmint for getting back to me. I'm so glad it worked for you. Did you notice a big difference after the sessions and how many sessions did you have? Sorry for all the questions!