Dealing with a feared future situation in EMDR Therapy

[@boa1793]

I see that I say to myself when I get panicked about the future, “I won’t be able to deal with it so I have to think hard about what might happen and prepare for it.” That’s without processing the feelings in my body.

[@mrsb1961]

Thanks Michael, it's very useful to be able to revisit parts of the training. Im looking forward to my next session in November. Happy to say that my clients love EMDR !

[@CalicoQueen72]

This was so helpful! Thank you so much for sharing this video.

[@Kaj319]

Thank you - really well explained

[@eugeneano285]

You are not answering her question. You stubbornly presume there is nonetheless a way to retrieve childhood memory. But if trauma happened when child was a baby or toddler, it's certain the memory is not retrievable, or maybe there is no single event but continuum. What do you do then?

[@MichaelPatersonOBE]

From your comment I see that you don't fully understand the Adaptive Information Processing Model on which EMDR Therapy is based. Infant and early childhood memories are stored in memory networks in a form that was developmentally appropriate. For example, an infant exposed to angry exchanges between parents, will store these memories emotionally and somatically. In later life, when accessing this, they may have a representative image which is a way of trying to make sense of it.

[@eugeneano285]

@@MichaelPatersonOBE Great reply. Respectful thank you. So it's not only I that don't understand AIP but also 5 EMDR therapists I worked with to a different degree here around Toronto. They were looking for factual memory(ies) only. I can understand that coming from training on big-T EMDR treatment they would look for the same in childhood. Nonetheless I have lots of as you said memories stored emotionally or somatically. Coming up with a representative image is something I haven't tried. Is there reference I could read? Your reply is very encouraging for me as it gives credible hope that I can apply EMDR to my traumas. But I have to work with knowledgeable therapist.

[@EMDRMasterclass]

@@eugeneano285 Robin Shapiro wrote about working with a representative image in her chapter in EMDR Solutions 2. You could also look online at the Francine Shapiro Library.

[@catherinebonello2670]

Rr