Has anyone tried EMDR therapy?

[Chaoscarriesonagain]

Self explanatory, as above.

Having been through a difficult time and in moving forward (4months, yippee!) am finally beginning to feel like myself again and losing the feeling of hurt etc.

Background: ex DP was an emotional and physical an user that took over my better judgement for too long. I ended up a shall, scared and it left me with PTSD

I initially tried therapy, but it was too early, I've been reading up about EMDR, and wondered if anyone can offer any experience? Positive or negative!

I'd like to explore the root of the fear little things trigger inside me with relation to the PTSD.

There's a small cloud that still follows me!
TIA

yes, SAL that was why I was advocating getting a properly qualified and accredited cognitive therapist via the BABCP
There are many excellent and highly skilled practitioners of cognitive therapies. Well qualified CBT practitioners are also able to work at a complex and deeper level and do so to great success. However I do completely agree that the pool has been somewhat muddied by those who aren't particularly skilled or qualified describing themselves as CBT therapists in the hope of finding work.

Unfortunately getting therapy in the UK from an experienced specialist in their field is in most ways still a largely unregulated area.
As psychotherapy is a term being used interchangeably by counsellors nowadays it can be hard for people seeking therapy to know what they are looking for or receiving.

Same with EMDR for all reported success stories I have heard, I have also heard many distressing stories.

I hear what you're saying but thats not been my experience. My CBT therapy was from BACP accredited and (relatively) well-qualified therapists, in one case with a pHD. However, the whole ethos of it i found deeply superficial and "quick fix". I do think its benefits have been vastly overstated by a government/NHS rightly wanting a speedy and cost-effective alternative to ADs. It failed me and several people i know dairly spectacularly

I had a version of EMDR with a psychologist that worked at my son's development centre (he has SN). It was to deal wth my PTSD, acquired after a traumatic birth & subsequent SN related issues.

I say 'a version' as she didn't do anything to do wth eyes-I wanted my eyes shut.

It was a hard process. But the best thing I have ever done. It took 6 sessions & I was a totally different person.

I was highly sceptical but am so so glad I did it.

SAL I think ADs are massively cheaper than any of the talking therapies so that isn't the reason the govt are backing CBT.

CBT is the most easily quantified therapy had huge amounts of verifiable success and it's model is almost medical and therefore easy for doctors and psychs to agree and work with. I think that and it's effectiveness as a brief therapy is why the govt are backing it.
I do completely agree with you that CBT is overused and over relied upon by the NHS and in agency funding and that many of the therapist using it aren't properly qualified.
On the other hand CBT has so much success and works so quickly that for many it's some form of miracle.

I am hugely inspired to hear of people having success with EMDR I must say. I have tried everybloodything, CBT twice, psychotherapy x 6 months, hypnosis twice, self help books, CDs coming out of my ears etc, and my stubborn old brain just will not let go and be calm.

I have asked my NHS psychiatrist (who I see 6 monthly and who has done absolutely nothing) to consider if I suffer from PTSD so I can try EMDR on the NHS as I simply cannot afford to pay out for any more private therapy. I have spent £000's. They say I have OCD/anxiety but nothing has come close to treating it. I am in flight mode constantly, terrified, dizzy and have horrible intrusive thoughts/images. I cannot just switch it off as my 'D'H says I should be able to.

I am still waiting to hear 2 months later from the psych. This is despite childhood physical/emotional/sexual abuse, abandonment by my father, being raped as a young adult, having to give birth to a child who I was told would die as soon as she was born (she did) and 2 months later almost losing my only other child (at that time) as a serious illness was misdiagnosed, and at the same time finding I was pregnant again with twins (lovely but not able to cope at that time with it and very hard as no support and H working away all the time), not to mention later on having to go bankrupt due to being sold a house that was about to fall down (abroad) and being made homeless while pregnant with my youngest DC (now living in a council flat, no credit, no chance of ever owning own home again). I mean if that's not traumatising, what the hell is?

Has anyone had success with multiple 'happenings'? I will need a lot of sessions won't I!

I need to get saving again and check out EMDR therapists. Only problem is the ones in my area charge for initial consultations/assessment and I would rather not part with £75 and get nothing out of it. I am determined to get better though. I sometimes feel like giving up and just accepting that 'this' is the way my life is going to be. This thread has given me something to hold onto. Thank you.

teens

It sounds as though you've had a really difficult time.
I hope that the therapy has at least helped you to understand that trauma can often result in anxiety and associated compulsions? I am saying that just to let you know that how you are feeling is well within what anyone might expect. That doesn't make it any easier of course but sometimes simply accepting that what you are feeling is to be expected can make a bit of difference.

There are lots of things that have been shown to help.

For me, I found that yoga for relaxation was the absolute best thing for clearing my mind and relaxing me. It allowed me to have a way to get away from the anxiety. In the beginning I found it really difficult and I had to try a few different classes. Some of them made me feel like I was going to have a panic attack, some were competitive and not relaxing at all! Eventually I found a hatha yoga beginners class for relaxation and I honestly got loads out of it.

I saw a person centred therapist. She did timeline therapy with me eventually. Bit by bit I was able to piece together my story and that was helpful and it also made me see the bits that were worst for me and that were affecting me most

Once I had a bit more of a handle on things I saw a very experienced CBT therapist to help we deal with some of my anxiety. I was in such a state that my body was mistaking everything for fear. Coffee, dips in blood sugar...everything was resulting in a flight or freeze response. So we first of all sorted that out! Then we started to examine the anxieties and fears.
I got a lot out of that and the homework.

Finally I saw an ACT therapist and she was very good in allowing me to learn to forgive and move on. From here I started to practise mindfulness which has been brilliant also.

This wasn't a completely upward journey as some of it was very difficult and I went backward a great deal whilst going forward. I think I was lucky with some of my therapist as they were absolutely brilliant and also able to point the way to other specialisms.

I think if I were you I'd be back to my GP asking exactly what he proposes to do now to help you get well. Ask what his suggestions are for you. I'd be asking the same question of my psych. Seeing what free therapy is available from some of the agencies is also useful and getting a referral or self referring to them might be another answer

Hi all

ratty thanks for posting your experiences, it really does help, and definitely no need to apologise; different things, different people and all that . Totally take on board your comments re registration of therapists and ethical practice etc. it does seem a minefield. In my area , Scotland, there is even less "choice" if you will . I too have heard docs will give out pills as a quick, cheap fix (9 month waiting list here , so not bothering with doc), going private

salbetrina your experience of CBT sounds like my lasting impression from a brief session with a therapist after an accident - I didn't feel comfortable. I'm sorry it didn't work for you

rundontwalk thanks got sharing your experience. Glad it helped your DS and you too.

teens am very sorry to read of your experiences. How terribly sad. It seems perfectly reasonable to suggest what you have to GP given the set of circumstances. I realise the cost also, far from ideal. I really hope you find something that works for you, all the best.

Teen to answer your question yes EMDR can work on multiple traumas. I had a stack to work through. I'm sorry I can't remember all the details as it was 9 yrs ago but the psychiatrist and I were both surprised by how quickly I responded.
She also told me of a case in which a woman had been traumatised from witnessing a murder and had responded fully in one session, she said it was almost like a party trick, so fast.

I am so sorry for all the pain you have endured and still suffer. I do know how it is to be trapped in the nightmare and how talking therapy just seems to make it worse.
All the best

May ask the experienced people on this thread whether these "instant" therapies can work for 'complex ptsd'? I couldn't begin to identify a handful of traumatic events - not, in any case, such as to represent all of the abuse. It started when I was a baby and went on, perpetuated by various others, for more than forty years.

The psychotherapy I've done (lots of it) has helped me re-set my values and to recognise the impact of past traumas on current responses - but not to eliminate/replace those trauma responses. Would any of the treatments mentioned here be effective, or is it a case of muddling through as mindfully as I can manage?

Terribly sorry, Chaos, I didn't mean to hijack your thread.

Are you sure it's PTSD you're suffering from, Chaos?
Here are the diagnostic criteria:
www.ptsd.va.gov/professional/pages/dsm-iv-tr-ptsd.asp

If so you might want to look at the NICE guidelines. They recommend both trauma-focused CBT and EMDR:
www.nice.org.uk/CG26

Best of luck with your recovery.

Another positive experience. I've had EMDR treatment for PTSD. I started out with yoga and mindfulness... as you said as well, sometimes it is too soon and you need the energy to tackle some of the heavy stuff. I had a big breakdown and was well on my way up before I started the EMDR.
I was very very draining.. after each session I felt like I was hit by a bus. Very tired and achy, I slept hours and hours. I had a good therapist, you need someone you can trust because it it a painful journey. Also had terrible nightmares.
I did not have a 'singular' PTSD (single event), for me it was a complex, compound thing that went years back.
Today I feel a lot better, and can look back at events in the part that used to really painful with a sort of detached self-compassion. No more raving guilt, not daring to look myself in the eyes.
I used to suffer panic attacks but have not had one in years, and I had the EMDR 3 years ago (almost to the day, yay!) and no longer frequent nightmares.
It has been liberating.
But, it has also been a part of what I have been doing. I have done more meditation (mindfulness) and yoga, have kept an eye on my behaviour and thoughts, have to keep an eye on my health and energy levels and so on.
Hopefully this is a bit helpful, sorry to see you have been through such a hard time.

I just wonder how some people can work and function fairly normally and some cannot when they have PTSD, there must be some severe forms and some less so, on looking back, my nightmares started around a year ago but I wasn't diagnosed until October last year, have been having CBT since then but like some of the other posters, I suffer hyper-vigilance, hyper-arousal, disassociation, depression, nightmares, insomnia and all this does lead to some dark thoughts at times, especially when there seem to be no help on the NHS in my area.

I would have to move 10 miles to get help out of the region

I also do not think I could be cured in 20 minutes on online hypnotherapy, I guess I could be wrong with that. It's WWW here or yappy btw.

I also do not think my PTSD was caused by living with a bastard abuser for many years, I think it was the after-math of the split up, multiple threatening texts, accusing me of random nasty things, threatening to kill me etc, and not just him, him and his new girlfriend. For some people this can be ignored but even a word from them (they open fb account to contact me) sends me almost over the edge in a bizarre way. I shake and have panic attacks at words on a screen.

The nightmares didn't start until last February, (when I went no contact with my ex and his girlfriend) then the non sleeping, then the hyper-vigilance/arousal (anger etc).

I have heard people talk of it as being 'a disease of the mind' it is like a disease, I am not putting down anyone depressed or anxious here but at least when I was depressed/anxious I could take something and it helped a bit.

If you have full blown CPTSD it truly does suck and I wish there was somewhere to go ad have a bloody good rant about it

My Therapist tells me I need to be more mindful.

My head doesn't stop though.

Hi Kittens.. it sucks indeed and I do not try to make light of it.
Does your therapist do anything with you to get you to 'be more mindful'? It can come across as telling someone to stop thinking and that just does not work.
My EMDR was done in 20 sessions (if I remember correctly).

Is there like a Buddhist group somewhere near you? There are quite a few of meditation groups all over the UK and they may be able to guide you to someone to help you along. Sometimes the NHS does facilitate MBSR - Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction, some therapists work with it, combined or not with CBT. It helped me a lot. It just created a space where I stopped identifying with my thoughts.. kept on beating myself up for all the stupid things I'd done, and thought.. ruminating and going around.. the panics.. all that. In the middle of the terrifying bits, before I was physically safe, there would have been no way to just sit with myself. And then when I did, I realized that I could not do it by myself.
I don't think it is a disease but I do think there is a lot going on telling you that you are not okay, not well I mean (not that you're bad or bad) It is like alarm bells that go off and you can't get them to fucking shut up.

There is a Mindfulness Clinic 10 miles away, they hold seminars, I will look at their website but I'm sure their all day one was last Saturday. I wonder if my head is too busy though and I should try it at home.

My Therapist gives me lots of handouts, they are all in the kitchen One is triangle and something to do with finding 'meaning' and good stresses and bad stresses etc..one is whistling and birds tweeting music, another is sheets rating my panic levels on everything, I have filled in 2 and got pissed off.. I cannot help if I jump at noise, it's a reflex!

I have tinnitus too (a noisy head) so your last sentence is very relevant, my head never fucking shuts up!

Choas sorry to hijack but I'm interested are you not hyper-vigilant or anything? I wake every 2 hours or so (medicated) to do the whole bedroom check (for no reason whatsoever )

I know you love your job but I would still urge you to seek employment away from him, it cannot be good seeing him often. I haven't seen my X to talk to for over a year now. I like to pretend he doesn't exist. (wishful thinking tbh)

Hi all. EMDR can work for complex PTSD it may just take longer in order to work through the many 'layers' of trauma.

Re:mindfulness. It's definitely not about just stopping thinking...that's impossible! . Rather its about becoming more focused and engaged in the present moment and becoming less judgemental of your thoughts and feelings. Acknowledging them and then refocusing. I think the idea of finding a course etc locally is a good one but if not you can find lots of books and CDs on amazon. Just look for Jon Kabat-Zin as a starting point.

As others have said anything that you can go to build your levels of strength and resilience can only be if benefit when you are doing the exhausting and challenging work that is 'therapy'!

I agree with the suggestions to try mindfulness. I did a Marsha Linehan programme and it was fantastic.

Marsha Linehan

I have tinnitus ... my head never fucking shuts up!

Me, too. It makes meditation a very different experience from what the teachers describe ... so I am mindfully listening to the pretend racket in my ears ... argh!

Argh indeed Garlic, mines goes from a pulsating and beating sound to just a ringing, it especially likes to come and annoy me when I lie down to rest.

I apparently had a mysterious terrible cold without knowing and it arrived one night and hasn't gone away.

I see my CBT therapist this week I will ask her is she can do EDMR. If she gets a word in edgeways

lizzabadger yes, definately sure it is PTSD :(

kittensandkids hi, sorry to read of your woes too. I can't say I am extra vigilant, but I will get very jumpy around any circumstances which remind me of "us"; Sainsbo's in a certain area for example, fills me with fear (silly, i know) my dad raised his voice at my brother in what I felt was a disproportionate manner, i burst into tears an started shaking.

I don't see him, I haven't bashed into him, and I don't intend on at work. I am looking elsewhere but I know it has to be right. for me.

Could you give me the details of this practitioner please?

That's for idlesofmarch

word of warning - I know someone who got EMDR under highly hospital controlled conditions (not in the UK) and unfortunately she had an unusual reactoin and ended up hospitalized at serious risk in a (good) psychiatric hospital.

I do think this is very unusual from all accounts and EMDR seems to help most people a lot but if you find an EMDR therapist it might be worth talking out what to do if you do happen to get a bad reaction.

While therapy in past years has helped me, it isnt the answer for everyone. Mindfulness does seem particularly good, perhaps that's a possibility too.

My sister had it when her husband suddenly dropped the OW bomb. She is much better now!