Over
the past two years, I have received approximately 50 hours of professional
training and have worked with numerous clients using a therapeutic method
called EMDR (Eye Movement, Desensitization and Reprocessing). I
have witnessed hundreds of dramatic healing effects on client's behavior,
emotions and changes in perception, related to their trauma as it impacts
their lives. However, it was not until I had a life threatening
injury, where my neck was broken in a car accident that I really internalized
the benefits of the EMDR process. During the first month while I
was still in terrible pain and shock, the strongest symptoms of Post Traumatic
Stress that I suffered were specific dizziness and swerving motions every
time I thought of our Jeep flipping over or while watching Jeep Cherokee
commercials on TV. In place of any emotional feelings, these reactions
randomly intruded on my daily thoughts and images. Carol Crow, a
therapist friend offered to do some EMDR sessions at my home. At
the end of the second session I was no longer hovering over or stuck in
the images previous to, during, and after the crash. The mental
recycling that kept me imprisoned to the scene altered, allowing the stored
emotional trauma and sensations to move through my nervous system and
be digested. The relief I felt was immeasurable. Yet, the
greatest gift of healing was the total absence of the swerving motion
when I recalled the accident or saw TV commercials. The changes
were dramatic. I could begin to let go of feeling "broken in
pieces" and return to my body's need for inner healing. One
year later, I returned to the physical scene of my accident in Utah, and
lay to rest the remaining pain that was left inside me and on the earth.
What I've described is similar to the kinds
of traumatic events that threaten one's very core and overwhelm ordinary
coping defenses, resulting in intense fear, helplessness and loss of control.
Trauma is timeless. The event could be recent or years ago.
The reactions of PTSD occur in two very different behaviors. In
the first response, the person cannot separate or get out of the trauma,
reliving the original event through nightmares, flashbacks, panic attacks
and obsessive thinking. In the second, the person cannot allow the
event in, instead choosing to avoid, by staying busy, numbing out or substance
abuse.
In either case, physical symptoms can include
insomnia, panic attacks, heart palpitations and hyperarousal, the tendency
to be easily startled by any reminder triggering the trauma, (e.g. the
sound of an ambulance siren or other sound, sights, smells, or feelings).
According to Francine Shapiro, Ph.D., originator
of the EMDR process, research findings show that when someone is negatively
affected by trauma, information is stored in the motoric (body systems)
memory, rather than narrative (verbal) memory. The negative emotions
and physical sensations of the original event are locked inside the nervous
systems, producing intense feedback reactions and symptoms.
EMDR has dramatically helped to accelerate
the healing process as it applies to grief, when a person gets stuck in
the images, feelings and interpretations about the death or dying scenes,
whether real or imagined; sometimes, the survivor was not physically present
and had to rely on second hand information regarding their loved one's
death.
As a therapist, I explore with the client
their most disturbing images, beliefs, thoughts, sensations and emotions.
After this assessment, EMDR protocol is followed. The client is
then introduced to the process of bi-lateral stimulation through a variety
of ways: eye scanning, auditory sounds, or kinesthetic gentle tapping
motions, designed to help move through and release conditioned responses
to trauma. |
