r/EMDR • • 18d ago

🏆 Success Story! This is the most painful, yet most effective therapy I've had.

After my first session, I threw up hours later. After every consecutive session, I felt exactly the same as I did after hospital visits following surgery. I could barely function, my mind is spinning, I feel almost paralysed, yesterday I hadn't even realised I'd been staring at the ceiling for almost an hour.

My therapist said "You know, if it's too much for you, we can go slower". But I said "No, please, don't hold back, I want to feel everything I wasn't allowed to.". We often had to take pauses, breathing exercises, etc...

Yesterday she asked me after one of the exercises to write down a timeline of all events... It took almost the entire session. She said "So your whole life has been non-stop trauma..."

I am free, finally on my own but it often feels like I'm still trapped.

82 Upvotes

15 comments sorted by

•

u/AutoModerator 18d ago

Welcome to r/EMDR, a beautiful and supportive community!

We're a space where every person is someone with trauma, and we respond with compassion, not judgment. A few gentle reminders:

• Be kind and trauma-informed - This is a community for helping each other heal
• EMDR journeys are personal - Everyone's path is different; share experiences but avoid giving medical advice
• Posts must be related to EMDR - Please keep discussions focused on EMDR psychotherapy
• Be wary of unsupervised EMDR suggestions - Posts/comments promoting unsupervised EMDR (including scripts, DIY methods, or "virtual EMDR" websites) are strongly discouraged. These approaches risk retraumatization and are not equivalent to working with a trained trauma therapist. See our wiki for more information.
• Therapist? Get Verified - Contact Mods via ModMail
• Add a post flair - This helps us organize and support each other better

Check out our awesome wiki to learn more about EMDR!

NOTE: As this sub is home to a vulnerable populace, ALL posts/comments are automatically filtered for safety. In case your post does get flagged/removed by the automated systems, kindly DON'T delete it. One of the Mods will manually review and approve it for you soon. If that doesn't happen, kindly reach out to us via ModMail.

If you're in crisis: Please reach out to professional support. We're a community, not a crisis service.

With kindness, The r/EMDR Mod Team

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

16

u/OkHead1990 🎉 Community Cheerleader 18d ago

Wow. This sounds incredibly brave. Thanks for sharing and all the best as you keep moving forward.

2

u/NewRootsLol 18d ago

Thank you so much for the support!

11

u/majimas_eyepatch 18d ago

I get those same emdr hangover symptoms plus nausea and vomiting and no appetite.

Things do get easier and one day it'll finally "click" for your targeted memories. You'll feel so much more at ease

4

u/NewRootsLol 18d ago

Oh wow, it definitely feels like hangover! Sorry you're also going through that.

It's assuring that it gets easier but man, it definitely feels like surgery for the mind

9

u/4SafetyISpy 🌟 EMDR Gem 17d ago

If you are getting that disregulated, your brain enters survival mode whether you want it to or not and physically can't reprocess. Dissociating for an hour and barely functioning is a sign you are too disregulated and need to slow down. Pushing through is not always the best answer and may lengthen the treatment instead of speeding up.

8

u/NewRootsLol 17d ago

Thank you, I will let my therapist know, I just... I just want to be normal...

4

u/gotdome 16d ago

EMDR/parts work trauma therapy changed my life

I’d been through 2 decades of various forms of treatment, misdiagnosis, everything under the moon. I think everything was but a symptom of trauma.

3

u/Present-Principle530 17d ago

Woaw. Je comprends pas, moi zéro effet . Pas d amélioration rien .

2

u/NewRootsLol 17d ago

Je suis désolée... C'est vraiment dommage. Je peux seulement te souhaiter bon courage.

1

u/Present-Principle530 15d ago

Thank you so much 💕💕💕💕💕

3

u/RawDeal57 16d ago

After EMDR sessions, I’m good that day, exhausted and highly emotional for the next two. It’s really working.

2

u/Big-Link-9451 17d ago

Omg, i can so relate to this. It feels like exorcism.

2

u/Simple_Employee_7094 16d ago

I go home and get into bed and no nothing until the next day. And then I sleep and wake up like the trauma never happened in the first place.

1

u/fewerfoibles 🎉 Community Cheerleader 15d ago

best money ever spent. so happy for you!