EDMR

Tuesday, I had my third therapy appointment and my first experience with EDMR. EMDR is a form of therapy that uses eye movement, or in my case, a vibrating hand controller that alternates vibrations from the left to right hand, to help process trauma. I’ll be honest, I was skeptical, and even watching the videos provided by my therapist I didn’t think much of it. My wife reminded me of the Tetris Effect, which I did believe in, and the two sort of seem related so I figured, what the heck. I might as well give it a try.

I asked my therapist before we started how long was the EDMR going to take. She told me to focus on a recent unpleasant experience and I chose the situation at Burger King a few weeks ago when I almost went off on a rude customer. The whole experience was maybe four minutes, so I was concerned about how we were going to stretch that out for an hour. She assured me we most likely wouldn’t and off we went.

I’m not going into all the nitty-gritty, but let’s just say I’m a believer now. The experience was mind blowing to be honest. We went from Burger King (which I started remembering things I’d already forgotten) and my own brain linked it to work and then to buying a house and the underlying frustration that linked all three. We tied in a more recent experience where I was annoyed with some rude, loud people, and it just reinforced the same ideas.

For the most part, the therapist just sits back, interrupts and asks what you are thinking, but your brain does all the work. An hour after my session, I felt like it. My brain was exhausted, and two days later, I’m still feeling some effects. My dreams have also become more vivid, which is interesting.

Next Tuesday, I’ll have my second session and I’m curious where it will lead me. So far, I’m very thankful I took this step and getting a little help. I’ve already learned a few things about myself that I haven’t been able to figure out on my own.