EMDR for Intrusive Thoughts

[HannahG]

Hi recently started having horrible intrusive thoughts about things I cant really write about here that are horrible that I would never do.. but also my past extremely promiscuous sexual history which is very traumatizing for me in my current marriage. 

The thoughts only started a week ago and I see my Psych in 2 weeks (who I have been seeing due to 2 stillbirths). Have done a LOT of research as I am proactive in getting better. The thoughts appear to be Intrusive as part of an OCD trait. So my question was: 

Has anyone been sucessful with EMDR Therapy relating to OCD Intrusive thoughts or rumination?

[Guest_5218]

Hi Hannah, and welcome to the Forums.

I'm sorry you are going through such a tough time right now.  But you are doing the right thing by seeking professional help through a psych as well as support from the BB community.

It is interesting that you mention EMDR, because I have just agreed to undergo the same therapy with my psych. For me this is to treat PTSD.  I went through a block of Prolonged Exposure work last year with some benefit, but still much work to do.  So this year it has been recommended that I have some EMDR work to help further.

Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR) was initially developed in 1987 to successfully treat
PTSD.  But since then it has been used to effectively treat a wide range of other mental health problems including: anxiety and panic attacks, ocd, depression, stress, phobias, sleep problems, complicated grief, addictions, pain relief, phantom limb pain and self-esteem and performance anxiety.

I have done quite a lot of reading on the subject of EMDR in an effort to determine whether or not to go ahead with the treatment.  My research tells me that EMDR can accelerate therapy by resolving the impact of your past traumas and allowing you to live more fully in the present.  The process is rapid, and any disturbing experiences last for a comparatively short period of time (compared to exposure therapy for example). But you do need to be willing to experience the strong feelings and disturbing thoughts which may occur during your
sessions. 

Although I am unable to tell you at this stage if it is successful for me, it does sound as though it would be suitable for you.  And your psych has recommended it for you, so that should be your guide.  My first appointment is on 1st April followed by another on the 8th April.  I would be happy to report back on the process afterwards if you are interested.  

I hope this is of some help to you Hannah.  

Sherie xx

[geoff]

dear Hannah, I'm sorry for these pesty thoughts, as I've had OCD for 56 years and know what you are experiencing, and I'm pleased that Sherie has agreed to have the same treatment, as personally I haven't had this type of treatment, but am certainly very interested to see how it goes.
If you google 'intrusive thoughts' then there will be many posts on the subject, which I have been involoved in. Geoff.

[HannahG]

Thankyou so much for the information. I would love if you could keep me posted on your progress. I have no one around me who has done EMDR Therapy so can't really pass notes. Have my fingers and toes crossed for you

[Guest_5218]

Sure Hannah, no problem.  I will update you as I go.

I dont know anyone else who has had this therapy either.  As I mentioned, it is used a lot now in the USA, but only just starting to become popular here in Aust.  Apparently there are a few more therapists starting to become qualified in the use of it but it is probably taking a while because Medicare do not pay a rebate for specific EMDR treatment.  A therapist can probably gloss over that a little and call it something else though in order to qualify for medicare funding for Mental Health Care plans.  But I guess technically they cant.

Anyway it will be interesting.  And thankyou for your good wishes.

Sherie xx

[HannahG]

Hi Sherie,

Just seeing how you went on april 1st and 8th with EMDR.

Han x

[Guest_5218]

Grrrr, I just posted a long reply to you and the system crashed and I lost it all.

I'm sorry, no patience to redo it right now.

I will get onto it again either later today or tomorrow.

I hope you are okay Han.

Sherie xx

[Guest_5218]

Okay, I will give this another go, and hopefully not lose it this time. I have been thinking of you Hannah, and had thought to come here and let you know how the EMDR treatment was going. But I didnt, so I apologise for my slackness.

My first session of the EMDR was on 1st April, it was long and arduous lasting over 2 hours. My psych started out by explaining the reasoning behind the therapy. She then suggested we commence with an easier memory to see how the system worked and so I'd know what to expect. I was asked to choose a memory that was not traumatic, but still difficult. I chose the occasion of when my first love was killed in a car accident just after my 20th birthday. He was 23 and we'd been dating for 12 months at the time. His death was quite devastating. So we went through the whole EMDR process using that as an example, and this gave me an idea of what to expect. That was pretty simple, because although very sad, I had accepted and processed that many years ago.

Then she asked if I was ready to tackle the traumatic stuff from when I was 36. I agreed. I was asked to think of a traumatic image and to hold that in my mind while I followed her fingers back and forth in front of my eyes. I found it to be repetitive and all a little strange. But over time, there did seem to be a shift of emotions and physical responses, for example from feelings of fear/inevitability/dread to anger/hatred and then more accepting emotions. In theory its meant to shift emotions from gut/heart to head where it can then be processed appropriately. Afterwards I was both emotionally and physically exhausted and I came straight home and 'crashed' for a couple of hours.

For a few days afterwards I felt much heightened anxiety to the extent that I was shaking badly and my heart was racing at 100 miles an hour. That was expected because it is refreshing all of the traumatic memories. My psych told me to go home and take it easy for the weekend. She rang a couple of times to check how I was doing, which was nice of her.

An interesting thing I wasnt expecting was that I started having all these lovely images pop into my head of my first boyfriend as we walked along holding hands. And his beautiful dark brown puppy-dog eyes looking down at me as we walked. So some happy thoughts. Ahh the innocence of youth ............

My second session last Friday was a little different, so I will do a separate post tomorrow as I am out of room here.

Sherie xx

[Guest_5218]

Hi Hannah, sorry I'm a day later than planned. Anyway onto my second EMDR session on 8th April.

The second session started by my psych asking how I was feeling and all the usual stuff I guess. Then she explained what we were going to do with our second session. She wanted to know what had changed for me as a result of the sexual assault. Things like: no longer feeling safe, loss of trust in people, loss of confidence in own assessment of people, feeling vulnerable, etc. For me it is more the feelings of vulnerability and the loss of trust in my own ability to judge people. So she said that she would be working on those feelings today as well as the traumatic memories of the assault.

And this time she also asked me to chose a 'safe place' where I could imagine myself to be when the memories got too hard and I needed to stop. I chose the bend in a creek back on our old farm where there is lovely fresh water flowing over rocks into a large pool of water. I used to go walking there in the early morning and if you were really quiet you could spot a pair of platypus in there amongst the reads along the far bank. Such strange creatures, and very shy. So I used to consider myself privileged indeed to see them.

We started with the trauma memories. Again I had to picture in my own mind a 'snapshot' that I find triggering. You have to hold that picture in your mind and follow the moving fingers in front of your eyes. Again the feelings I was experiencing did seem to diminish in intensity over time. I must add that these fingers in front of the eyes thing might last several minutes and then a short break during which time she records how I felt. Both physical symptoms (shakes, heart racing, cant breath) as well as emotional symptoms (fear, wanting to escape, sadness) and she records it all. Then the fingers in front of the eyes as you follow them again. This is quite repetitive and probably this cycle ran around 25 times? When the distress levels escalate and later subside she seems to be happy to let it go.

I need to take a break ........ out of space, back soon.

Sherie xx

[Guest_5218]

Here is the rest of my report from 8th April ........

Then we started on the issue of my feelings of being unsafe and vulnerable. The same process with the fingers in front of the eyes and many repetitions. This time I was asked to think and keep repeating to myself that "I am as safe as I can be".

Then the other issue of where I no longer trust people, or my own judgement of them. This time I had to think and keep repeating in my own mind: "There are some people I can trust".

These were the agreed statements I said I could live with at the start of the session. Again after many many repetitions, I almost started to believe that these statements could indeed be true.

Afterwards we had a brief talk about how she thought it had all gone. She wanted to see me again the following Wednesday but I said it was too soon, so I now see her on Thursday week for my next session.

Again after the EMDR work (it was over 2 hours) I was very physically and emotionally spent. I came home and slept for 2 hours. I think the anxiety I experienced this time was not as bad as the first time, which is a sign of progress perhaps.

One thing I forgot to mention is that during the traumatic memory work at the start of the session where I had to hold that one memory (vision) in my mind during all the finger movements (the desensitization part of the process) I was making quite good progress in that the distress levels had started to drop. But then out of the blue I had a different vision come up in my mind. It was closely related to the other memory I had been visualising, but not the one I had been working on. That set me back and the distress levels went right back up again and I had to retreat to my 'safe place'. Which was lovely coz the platypus were there! ( - :

Anyway then I had to go back to the original vision and try to work back to an acceptable (in my psychs opinion) distress level again.

So Hannah, I hope this gives you a bit of an idea of what this EMDR therapy is all about. I am sure that it can be adapted for many purposes, and not just PTSD related trauma. Do you think its worth trying for you?

How did did your recent (last week I think) psych appointment go? Did you ask what her thoughts were regarding the pro's and con's of EMDR therapy for you? Is she a qualified practitioner of EMDR therapy, or would you need to look elsewhere to find one who is?

If you have questions Han, please ask. I will answer if possible.

Sherie xx