The names have been changed and some of the non-essential events of these stories have been altered a bit to protect the identify of these remarkable persons who faced difficult life-situations.
John recently had been sexually violated and wanted to rid himself of the intrusive memories, nightmares, feelings of shame and anger that he now experienced. He, a 6’1” tall sturdy 31year- old straight man, was shocked and horrified that someone could have done this to him.
A friend told him about EMDR as an effective therapy for trauma so he sought out my services.
John was pretty straightforward. He said he wanted to do EMDR so he could get on with his life. He didn’t have any other life experiences that he dragged along over the years that added pain to his situation. Overall, he was a pretty stable guy. He had a decent job, worked out regularly, was into watching sports of all kinds, and liked to go fishing with friends whenever he could. He had seen a therapist in the past, and felt he cleaned out “a lot of junk” at that time.
John was quickly able to jump into the processing part of EMDR (See article EMDR)
Three EMDR sessions later he reported his symptoms had gone away. Yes, three sessions! He felt better. His work with EMDR was accomplished and we wrapped up our work together.
John’s story is one that people think happen all the time. If only that would be the case!
John is representative of a person who seeks out EMDR who is pretty much “baggage free” from life’s challenges. He did not come to therapy with a life-history of other situations he had squashed down. He was not someone who had experienced an innocuous comment way back when that hit him at a time of vulnerability.
He had a single incident trauma. This is the kind of trauma that tends to get great results. John is representative of the kind of person who Francine Shapiro, founder of EMDR categorized as having a “T” trauma vs a” t” trauma. Many of us come to therapy with a traumatic situation that happens to us, but is one of many hard situations that have occurred in life. While EMDR may be rapid, such as John’s situation, it is not that way for others. Some come into therapy for a specific reason, but scratch the surface a bit, and a lot of traumatic experiences flow through their lives. They have a little “t” trauma. In this case little t is in reality a big deal. A person’s life is full of traumas.
After all, as I always tell my clients, “]The deeper the cut, the longer the healing time.” See Jane’s story.
If you are experiencing a single incident trauma, or come with a history of traumatic experiences, please give us a call now. If you are ready to tackle your life, and to make it better, we are here to help.
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