Question:
In <Wallpaper-0806972019370…@ts23-11.homenet.ohio-state.edu> Wallpa…@pop.service.ohio-state.edu writes: – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -> Romy wrote: >>Hi Folks- >HI Romy! 
>>My name’s Romy, and I check in here from time to time. My ptsd >>stems from the emotional abuse from 2 alcoholic parents. >>Aside from that,the critical incident reduction that you’re talking >>about sounds like something I tried called EMDR. It stands for Eye >>Movement Desensitization– I forget what the ‘R’ stands for–maybe >>’Response’–but you do a sort of chain of conciousness thing while a >>therapist moves their index finger in front of your eyes really >>fast. I am NOT making this up. >I know you’re not. Besides there have been weirder things used! >>My therapist and I did this exercise, choosing a subject re: my ptsd >>that was not too volitile. It actually worked. Has anyone else heard >>of this? It’s pretty new >>therapy. Thanks. >>Romy K. >Yes I’ve heard of this, it’s slightly controversial as to whether it >works/how it works/what people it can be used on. >I believe it was discovered by a survivor who lived in NY(?). She found >that, with all the things passing her line of sight, her panic attacks, >etc., would actually lessen in severity/cease. It’s all based on >desensitizing the client to a point where s/he can talk about the >traumatic stuff and not dissociate or panic.
It’s called ‘eye movement desensitization and reprocessing’ (EMDR) therapy, and it’s quite controversial. When I first heard about it, it struck me as some pop-psychology fad, sort of like facilitated communication with the autistic. And in fact, it has been attacked as just that… a worthless fad. But even so, it has become so widely known that there are people studying it just to settle once and for all if it is effective or not. Currently most (but not all) claims of EMDR effectivenes have been anectodal, but that seems to be changing as it gets studied more. One theory for why EMDR works is that by moving your eyes rapidly, you are imitating REM sleep, which seems to be the type of sleep where memories are processed. There may be other physiological explanations also. Others speculate that it is just another form of exposure therapy. Is EMDR a fad? I’m willing to keep an open mind that it is not, but am especially waiting for the controlled studies which will say yea or nay. Chris
Response:
EddaB wrote: > has anyone had experience of this for treeating a post traumatic > obsession, i.e. going over and over the events. I am not sure what it is, > but it was suggested to me it might work. > edda
There is a therapy called "Traumatic Incident Reduction" or TIR that has been reported to be very effective in treating PTSD. It is somewhat different from traditional flooding. If you search under the above name, you should be able to find alot of information. I have no experience with it, so I can’t give first hand information or even tell you if the claims are true.
Response:
- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -nieme…@iastate.edu wrote: > In <Wallpaper-0406971645540…@ts25-9.homenet.ohio-state.edu> Wallpa…@pop.service.ohio-state.edu writes: > >>niemeyer writes: > >>I believe that the treatment is called ‘flooding.’ It seems that one > >>thing about obsessional thinking about an event is that people try to > >>repress it. The theory with flooding is that rather than trying to > >>repress the obsessive thought or feeling, that one deliberately indulge > >>in it. Supposedly, after awhile, the mind then becomes de-sensitized > >>to the obsessive thought/feeling, etc., and its obsessive quality > >>diminishes. > >Gee, I’m a survivor of incest; physical and emotional abuse I don’t > >want to try "flooding", or deliberately indulging in it. This is a > >very precise tool that would have to be used in limited cases, IMHO. > Actually, ‘indulging’ in the thought/feeling is the wrong word… it’s > more like, rather than having the patient try to repress the feeling, > having him/her NOT try to repress it. In other words, letting him/her > think/feel it instead of wasting energy trying to block it. > I had a real hard time with two therapists of mine… they were so damn > cognitive… their attitude seemed to be that if they could get me to > change my unhealthy thought patterns, why, then the crazy thoughts would > go away. I found myself trying to vent feelings that seemed to be > boiling up, and they would say things like: "hold on now, let’s try to > think about what you said for a minute… do you really think that > attitude of yours is positive? …" blah, blah, blah. They were really > into getting me to think about what I was saying, and not letting me > FEEL what I was FEELING. I finally gave up on the therapists because I > didn’t agree with them, and it seemed like I was wasting my time/money. > Mind you, I’m not as terribly messed up with my PTSD as some people out > there, but I found the technique of confronting my unwanted obsessive > thoughts helpful to me. The thoughts/feelings that had been bothering > me all day… I would take time alone and walk up and down my apartment > saying them, thinking them, feeling them for about … oh it seemed like > an hour, but was probably not more than twenty minutes. > Again, I’m not as messed up as some people, so maybe I could benefit > from this the way others couldn’t. Anyway, it helped me at the time. > It really did. > Then, I spent the longest time writing in my journal. And that helped. > But you know what? I wasn’t really writing about what was bothering me. > I was grumbling a lot about symptoms, but not causes. Then I had a > crisis at work, and out of that extremely upsetting, but ultimately > helpful experience, I realized that my journal writing was going nowhere > because I wasn’t writing about the things that mattered… causes > instead of just grumbling about symptoms. And the more I write the more > I keep hitting on those feelings that are so laced with pain. But I’m > no longer avoiding these feelings, and I’m actually starting to feel > better. And I find myself doing more than just feeling the feelngs… I > find myself analyzing them to some degree, getting introspective about > ‘em. My loser therapists would be proud! But I think that before > you can get so introspective on them, you have to be allowed to feel > them first. > Maybe I’m writing in my journal now because in many ways I’m emotionally > stronger than I used to be. Mebbe that’s it. > Someone I know told me that writing doesn’t suit him, but talking to > someone else does. Some people would rather put all of their energy > into activities that’ll take their mind of their problems… yeah, > that’ll help, too. That’s helped me on more than one occasion. To each > his/her own. > Chris N.
Hi Folks- My name’s Romy, and I check in here from time to time. My ptsd stems from the emotional abuse from 2 alcoholic parents. Aside from that,the critical incident reduction that you’re talking about sounds like something I tried called EMDR. It stands for Eye Movement Desensitization– I forget what the ‘R’ stands for–maybe ‘Response’–but you do a sort of chain of conciousness thing while a therapist moves their index finger in front of your eyes really fast. I am NOT making this up. My therapist and I did this exercise, choosing a subject re: my ptsd that was not too volitile. It actually worked. Has anyone else heard of this? It’s pretty new therapy. Thanks. Romy K.
Response:
has anyone had experience of this for treeating a post traumatic obsession, i.e. going over and over the events. I am not sure what it is, but it was suggested to me it might work. edda
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