“Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) is a psychotherapy developed by Francine Shapiro that emphasizes disturbing memories as the cause of psychopathology. It is used to help with the symptoms of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)” according to wikipedia which I can see is loaded with related links if you want more information.

Today I basically went to an interview to determine if the therapy would be appropriate for me.

Long story short the verdict was no, it wouldn’t be.  Mine is particularly well managed, I still experience panic attacks around dealing with particular threats but it no longer is a daily ongoing impact. I can function. So there really is no role for EMDR to play for me. Point being is threats ARE threats. Fear, panic and perceiving them as threats is an entirely rational and reasonable response, a response which exists rightfully sofor my safety to things which genuinely are threats and as such is not an illness or disorder.

I found the therapist to not listen particularly well, fill in gaps with assumptions and appear to rush to fit things in and get carried away with inconsequential details for extended periods. Even being told they are inconsequential events, only to admit after chewing up half the interview time with them that they were not as significant as she had assumed they would be.

I think this was due to EMDR being almost a quick fix therapy. It involves a number of preparation meetings to identify targets and then 1 session of the actual therapy with follow up to guage effectiveness.

So it lacks the depths of other talk therapies and purely works on taking the edge off by interupting the body and minds over response to triggers by redirecting the trigger essentially.

Its not for me I have used CBT and mindfulness to great efficiency that it isnt necessary to engage EMDR but hopefully it will help Bruce.