When people talk about “therapy” here, they most likely are thinking of bog-standard talk therapy, where you just go in and kinda, well, talk to someone about your life, problems, etc.
For some people, it’s enough to just get things off their chest, talk about things out loud with someone and helps them deal with their issues. I personally see such a therapist monthly and find it beneficial to my mental health.
For others, especially those with more intense troubles and traumas, it may not be, and would probably be served better by someone more specialized with said traumas.
Like any medical profession, the quality of individual therapists and mental health experts can vary widely, from chuds to libs to comrades and everything in-between. there’s a solid chance you may not get the perfect fit on try 1, I didn’t.
I just feel like some people are dipping their toes into Scientology-ish “all therapy is bad, never seek professional help for your problems” stuff, which I think is disastrous advice.
Ideally people would know the difference between various services and gain a little insight into what they need either on their own or through some introductory talk therapy. Do you need DBT? Do you need EMDR? Do you need somatic therapy? Is basic CBT enough? Do you need someone who specializes in a certain disorder? Wading through all that can be hard and is rarely done properly.
The more advanced treatments such as EMDR are out of reach for a lot of people, especially in the publicly-funded but privately-profitable insurance octopus system that dominates the US and many other westen countries. That sucks because some of that stuff can really help people for specific issues, such as traumatic stress processing in the case of EMDR.
If you’re in a city and your therapist isn’t a grad student—but maybe even if they are—they’re going to be able to refer you to someone who does EMDR if you ask. Another great trauma modality is somatic experiencing, though that’s harder to find than EMDR. A lot of practitioners on insurance panels can still provide this type of specialty service.
EMDR is fucking ridiculous just play a video game or preoccupy yourself in some other way its the same fucking thing, I fucking HATE how people act like this is a serious treatment and isn’t deeply condescending to survivors
I found EMDR very helpful for me after some particularly bad experiences. Yes, I tried distractions before that, for years after the incident, but having a guided process made a difference for me with lasting results. Please do not invalidate my own experience as a trauma survivor.
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EMDR is basically just being told to go play video games. Its fucking stupid.
Wut.
My EMDR stuff has been to focus on the trauma while following a movement from left to right with my eyes. What have you been getting? O.o
Its just a procedural thing that you do while having issues. Anything can work to do that.
Also, if this ‘brain hack’ works, then why are therapists necessary? We can just have one video explaining it and get rid of therapists. In terms of clinical results, EMDR has very poor results. I’m glad you got something out of it but most people don’t. https://nap.nationalacademies.org/read/11955/chapter/6#99
I’ve seen multiple clinics advertising in this area that EMDR can ‘alleviate 90% or more of the symptoms of PTSD’ within just four sessions. I can verify that this isn’t true in my case. It just felt like some therapist purposefully triggering me for a thought experiment, each time I went to therapy it ruined a whole month for me which was worse than the normal 3-4 days.