Posted by tabitha on May 15, 2004, at 16:26:51
In reply to Impeccable timing, Tabitha! » tabitha, posted by Aphrodite on May 15, 2004, at 14:13:27
> My therapist is into this, too. He is trained in EMDR and thought field energy techniques. I've done EMDR twice; I thought it was interesting and helpful.
She used to use EMDR, but lately she seems more enthusiastic about the EFT stuff. Therapists must all go to the same workshops on the weekends.
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> As for the energy therapy, the research is indeed dubious.Apparently it's "emotional acupressure" where touching on certain meridian points while being tuned into to a particular problem facilitates healing. He even admits that there is much more science behind EMDR than EFT. In my last session, we did the energy treatment for the first time. He said that before he was trained and used it himself, he would have laughed at anyone using it. But, he says it works. We first did the "manual muscle testing" in which he said he discovered four blocks on my way to being well. He also ruled out some things that are not in my way. Next, we'll do different tapping procedures and other energy therapies to try to reverse those blocks.
I've read pretty skeptical stuff about EMDR, too. We do a little of that sometimes but I don't notice much effect from it. Face it, none of this stuff really rests on any solid research, but the ideas are sort of compelling. I do accept that emotions manifest in the body, so I'm somewhat open to the idea of bodywork type stuff as therapy. We didn't do the muscle test in my session.>
> He says the benefit is this: it is something you can do on your own, and it works for people like me who can understand that the way we see and think about ourselves is distorted but cannot change core feelings. The four core beliefs that are blocking me according to the energy testing and our conversations are: 1.) I feel I don't deserve to be well 2.) It's not possible for me to be well 3.) It's not safe for me to be well 4.) It's not safe for others if I am well.Wow, I'll bet your life would really be different if you could lose those beliefs. I worked on memories of how my mom stifled my self-expression.
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> When I was doing these seemingly "goofy" things, I thought, "I must really trust this guy," or "I must be so desparate that I'll try anything." I think it's a little of both.
I had similar thoughts-- like "I must be really desperate to save the relationship with my therapist" or "I'm such a pitiful therapy junkie to do this" Blah blah blah, self-criticism, blah blah blah...>
> Since I'm just getting started, I don't know what I think. It's intriguing though, so I'm trying to keep an open mind. It was interesting that my body responded to his questions in the way it did. It helped me have a little more faith in my intuition. I also think it may work for me because it can supposedly work without me having to say much, and since I get so tongue-tied, it may be the right course for me.That sounds positive. I usually like talking on and on, but sometimes it feels a little dead, ya know?
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> I'll keep you updated. I am very interested in hearing about your experiences.
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>I felt different emotions for the different chakras-- sadness, anger, and some not much at all. After the whole thing I did feel lighter and happier. I'd been in a pretty depressed state, and now I'm starting to come out of it. My thinking self says I'm just happy that I got to play a little game with my therapist. Sort of like patty-cakes.
I pretty much felt the same way about yoga. Admittedly it felt good, even spiritual, but I still kind of pooh-poohed all the mystical claims that some of the instructors made. I'll see what we do next. My T doesn't usually do all her non-traditional stuff with me since I make fun of it. I kind of want to go along just to see what I'm missing. She really seemed cheerful during the session, then naturally I found a way to get hurt by that-- thinking she's tired of hearing me talk.
poster:tabitha
thread:347160
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20040512/msgs/347197.html