Posted by Toby on November 18, 1998, at 9:32:44
In reply to Meds/EMDR, posted by DL on November 17, 1998, at 21:56:13
Women with post partum depression (not just baby blues that go away in a few weeks) need antidepressants, not just sleep medications. Any woman with a history of post partum depression who starts getting the same symptoms again even when not pregnant needs to be evaluated for something stronger than sleep medications.
As long as the therapist has been properly trained in EMDR I don't think it matters whether the therapist is male or female. I think a Level II trained therapist would be best for you since the things you will be working on are "process" problems; i.e., lots of events over a lifetime rather than just one or two big traumas. A Level II trained person has more experience and can support you through the purging and reintegrating process better than a Level I trained therapist. Don't worry about whether your issues are "important" enough for EMDR. There's no such thing as an unimportant issue. If it bothers you, then it is important. The therapist will not judge you. In fact, some therapists don't even want to know what the problem is, they just go directly to the desensitization phase (the eye movements) and let your brain do all the work. It's not important that the therapist know all the details; it just wastes valuable processing time for the patient to talk to the therapist, so the therapist usually only stops long enough for the patient to say one or two sentences so that he/she can be sure processing is taking place and the patient is moving in some direction (any movement is good). Each therapist has his/her own technique, so just go in with an open mind and be prepared to be honest with yourself and allow yourself to feel everything. Many people get nervous about that part, feel that they can't handle it, but they forget that they've been feeling these things anyway for years and years and have handled it (sometimes well, sometimes not). In EMDR you feel the feelings all at once, cut them out like a surgeon cutting out a cancer and you are done with it. I've never had a patient who couldn't handle it; the brain is a resilient organ.
I'll be around for hopefully a long time; Lord willing and the creek don't rise.
poster:Toby
thread:827
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/19990601/msgs/1291.html