Therapy
I've been looking forward to this day since I booked my appointment on Friday. I saw a new counsellor this morning and we've tried a different approach to relieving some of my issues. The technique that was employed today is called EMDR, or Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing. I won't even try to explain the logic behind the process since I'm not a psychologist or even that knowledgeable on how the brain functions, but you can GOOGLE it and find out information if you would like.
I decided to pursue this based on the very positive experiences that my aunt had using this process to get through her grieving when her husband was killed. While being a little skeptical, I am open to almost anything that may allow me some sort of relief from some of this pain I'm struggling with.
Well, some very interesting stuff happened during the session this morning that I can not explain at all, but seems to be a very positive experience so far. I'm not saying that this will be the end of all my current issues, but I now firmly believe that this will play a very important role in my recovery and ability to deal with things. I spent the session recounting the week following the death of my uncle, which I believe to be the point where a lot of my current issues stem from. While my brain was being stimulated by little vibrating pads in my hands, I was concentrating on feelings and images from that week. During this process, my back, neck and shoulders tightened up immensely, and my arms became so heavy and tense that I could hardly even move them. The pain in my back and my neck was unlike anything I'd ever felt in that part of my body before. I'm not sure that I can truely explain it, but i would think that if you had a huge buildup of stress in your shoulders that this is what it would feel like. This built up while I was focusing on images and events from that week, and kind of remained at a steady level for about 10 minutes while the paddles vibrated alternatingly at different speeds. The paddles slowed down for a bit, and then I was told to focus on something entirely different, and the buildup of pain in my shoulders disappeared in seconds. It almost felt as if that buildup of pain was just flushed out of my body. It was a very surprising experience. So, about 2 hours have passed, and I feel different. I can't explain the different feeling right now, but I was told to "just notice" the world around me for the next 3 days. Not really focus on things, but try to be aware of how I feel about things.
Whether people believe in the effectiveness of this treatment, I can honestly say that something happened during this session, and I'm looking forward to seeing what comes of this. And for those concerned friends, I haven't stopped seeing any of my other doctors, just happened to add one more to the pile, and am still on the waiting list for a few more.
Right now, I feel kind of good. Which I will welcome, even if it is for a couple of hours, because it's been a long, depressing couple of weeks.
I decided to pursue this based on the very positive experiences that my aunt had using this process to get through her grieving when her husband was killed. While being a little skeptical, I am open to almost anything that may allow me some sort of relief from some of this pain I'm struggling with.
Well, some very interesting stuff happened during the session this morning that I can not explain at all, but seems to be a very positive experience so far. I'm not saying that this will be the end of all my current issues, but I now firmly believe that this will play a very important role in my recovery and ability to deal with things. I spent the session recounting the week following the death of my uncle, which I believe to be the point where a lot of my current issues stem from. While my brain was being stimulated by little vibrating pads in my hands, I was concentrating on feelings and images from that week. During this process, my back, neck and shoulders tightened up immensely, and my arms became so heavy and tense that I could hardly even move them. The pain in my back and my neck was unlike anything I'd ever felt in that part of my body before. I'm not sure that I can truely explain it, but i would think that if you had a huge buildup of stress in your shoulders that this is what it would feel like. This built up while I was focusing on images and events from that week, and kind of remained at a steady level for about 10 minutes while the paddles vibrated alternatingly at different speeds. The paddles slowed down for a bit, and then I was told to focus on something entirely different, and the buildup of pain in my shoulders disappeared in seconds. It almost felt as if that buildup of pain was just flushed out of my body. It was a very surprising experience. So, about 2 hours have passed, and I feel different. I can't explain the different feeling right now, but I was told to "just notice" the world around me for the next 3 days. Not really focus on things, but try to be aware of how I feel about things.
Whether people believe in the effectiveness of this treatment, I can honestly say that something happened during this session, and I'm looking forward to seeing what comes of this. And for those concerned friends, I haven't stopped seeing any of my other doctors, just happened to add one more to the pile, and am still on the waiting list for a few more.
Right now, I feel kind of good. Which I will welcome, even if it is for a couple of hours, because it's been a long, depressing couple of weeks.
posted by Kelly at 11:03 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home