Behavior OnLine Forums  
The gathering place for Mental Health and
Applied Behavior Science Professionals.
 
Become a charter member of Behavior OnLine.

Go Back   Behavior OnLine Forums > >

Notices

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old August 23rd, 2006, 09:27 PM
Fleurs Fleurs is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2005
Posts: 12
Default therapy frustrations

i have dissociation and i am having a hard time in therapy.

Last edited by Fleurs; October 31st, 2007 at 10:52 PM..
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old August 24th, 2006, 12:51 AM
Sandra Paulsen Sandra Paulsen is offline
Forum Leader
 
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Bainbridge Island WA
Posts: 207
Default Re: therapy frustrations

I can't comment on your specific case, but I'll make some general comments that may or may not apply in your case.

EMDR should not be done on any person who is highly dissociative without first getting a critical mass of parts on board with the therapy, the therapist, the EMDR itself. Period. And also there must be sufficient stabilization and containment skills in place, and sufficient ego strength and resources, or the EMDR can really go south. It may go well, but it may go south. Suicidal crisis, cutting, not pretty. Clients sometimes put pressure on therapists to do therapy here and now or they'll quit. That's like a patient telling a surgeon when and where to cut and why. The surgeon is a dope if they fall for that. So it any therapist --- we are obligated to know what's at risk and have an appropriate treatment plan. Not just to jump when the client says jump.

REM sleep is household strength EMDR. Everybody gets a lot done in their sleep. DID people have a symphony of parts to get stuff done in their sleep and it can either be beautiful harmonious cooperative music or cacophonous noisy disturbing music (nightmares). And sometimes systems will cooperate with each other, even though they normally wouldn't, just because its better than the alternative, namely, trusting someone on the outside!

So I don't know whether this fits for you, as I said these are general comments based on 15 years of experience with daily EMDR and working with DID folks the whole time.

To self systems everywhere, let harmony rule so healing can complete!
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old August 25th, 2006, 08:45 PM
Fleurs Fleurs is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2005
Posts: 12
Default Re: therapy frustrations

thank you for your input. i really appreciate it!

Last edited by Fleurs; October 31st, 2007 at 10:53 PM..
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old August 28th, 2006, 03:50 PM
Sandra Paulsen Sandra Paulsen is offline
Forum Leader
 
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Bainbridge Island WA
Posts: 207
Default Re: therapy frustrations

Not likely. What happens is that EMDR is an associative process, so what it naturally pulls up involves other parts of self. It is possible to planfully work on only a fraction of a piece of work, and leave other parts contained, but there still needs to be system consent. Otherwise, if one tries to go ahead and do EMDR with a part of self when other parts of self are against it, the EMDR will definitely loop (get stuck). That is a big mistake. Far better to set a sufficiency of the self system on board with the benefits of EMDR.

What I typically do is to thank the protective parts of self for their years of keeping her/him safe. They often say they don't want her hurt again. I agree of course, and ask if it would be worth it to undergo the temporary pain of EMDR if it meant long term comfort and having the pain over. Even the crankiest protective parts of self can see the wisdom of that, though they may not believe its possible.
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old August 29th, 2006, 08:43 PM
Fleurs Fleurs is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2005
Posts: 12
Default Re: therapy frustrations

thanks again for your help and information.

Last edited by Fleurs; October 31st, 2007 at 10:53 PM..
Reply With Quote
  #6  
Old August 29th, 2006, 11:03 PM
Sandra Paulsen Sandra Paulsen is offline
Forum Leader
 
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Bainbridge Island WA
Posts: 207
Default Re: therapy frustrations

EMDRIA site shows members, those who have qualified for certification, and those who are qualified as consultants (who qualify others for certification). Therapists who are not certified may have taken the training but are either 1) qualified but not interested in certification, 2) unqualified for certification or 3) working on certification.

Dissociative clients should have therapists who are qualified to treat dissociative disorders. the website www.issd.org may provide names of qualified dissociation therapists. That's even more important than emdr, since the basics of system work come BEFORE trauma work.
Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -4. The time now is 08:47 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.
Copyright © 1995-2023 Liviant Internet LLC. All rights reserved.