Trauma Processing &EMDR
Trauma and EMDR
Trauma doesn’t have to stem from one major event. It can also be the thousands of little things that happened day after day, teaching your nervous system to adapt to others.
EMDR can work very well. EMDR works nicely via image bubbles or face-to-face and stands for Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing. It was discovered by Francine Shapiro. EMDR is used worldwide to treat trauma.
Additionally, it can be used in a very gentle, soothing way to help your body process what you already understand intellectually. For example, you might rationally understand that you are allowed to set boundaries, yet your body or nervous system still experiences stress the moment you try to do so.
So you don't have to have severe trauma to benefit from EMDR!
EMDR and narcissistic abuse or fawning
EMDR is used worldwide, and in my experience, it can be a very gentle yet helpful approach. It involves briefly stepping into the feelings associated with a particular situation or dynamic (whether distressing, significant or part of your everyday life). You then create an image of that experience, with yourself in it.
Once you have that image, we start working with it. This involves distraction (which places a load on your 'working memory'), for example through sounds played alternately in your left and right ear via headphones at a fairly fast pace, or by gently tapping your upper arms or knees in an alternating left-right pattern.
Your body may still experience the feelings and tension that there was no room for at the time. Afterwards, these feelings and tension gradually subside.
Ending the session positively
Finally, we end the session positively: You may still offer yourself that space, the safety, the warmth you needed at the time, in a visualisation. Or you can evoke a certain feeling of self-confidence, security and strength (for example) and link these feelings to the situation at the time.
This can give your nervous system the chance to settle, creating the space you need to truly take a different direction in life, from a place of self compassion, strength, and being grounded!
