Post by Toni-Louise on Aug 19, 2013 19:25:46 GMT
So a few years ago I was in a car accident and my doctor suggested I may have PTSD, I was refered for counselling and was given some sessions of EMDR.I never managed to complete the sessions due to university and tbh I didn't find it too helpful (but that may have been due to other issues).Anyyywayyy I thought I might share some of the techniques I was taught, bare in mind it was a few years ago and my memory is rubbish but I don't see how what I remember could cause any harm so just be aware that it may not particularly help but I guess its worth a try.
So before we started the actual sessions I was asked to think of A) A safe/happy place, the place was meant to be somewhere where it doesn't have much connection to someone else, more of a connection to you because if you use somewhere sayy a partners house and you were upset because of your partner then it would not really help you.I chose my bedroom because I don't like other people in my room (unless I allow them in) and I see it as MINE, anyway I had to think in detail about what was around me so I had to talk about the appearance (purple walls (at the time), fluffy pillows, candles etc), smells (perfume),sounds (music,noise from downstairs) and how it made me feel (safe).I think it could be helpful to think about this so sit down and think about this place,maybe write it down or tell someone? then when you are feeling distressed maybe think about it or even talk about it out loud and perhaps it may help you to calm down? obviously it was used in a different way for me as it was used to calm me down after speaking about traumatic experiences but it may still work.
B)A happy experience (something you are proud of?), it is also best if it has as little to do with other people as possible for the same reason as the other technique.this I actually find helpful, when I am feeling sad I still sometimes think about it.My happy experience was singing infront of my school...which I find helpful because when I think about the experience and the song I sung it does make me feel better (CrushCrushCrush, Paramore).So basically when I was feeling sad or distressed (was usually used at the end of a session to try to get me to leave the session in a reasonable state).I would think about the experience, the feelings I felt,the song and watching the people in the crowd clapping and swaying etc. Just listening to the song has a tendency to make me feel better so I think if you have a similar experience where a song or maybe even an item makes you feel better then maybe it is more effective because just seeing or hearing the object or sound may trigger the feelings that you felt at the time.Obviously I am not a professional or anything so don't just take my word for it.
Going back to music really I often find music to be very helpful,I have several situations which I tend to link to songs and if I a feeling a bit down I tend to put the songs on and I end up laughing away to myself (prob looks very silly when I am sitting on the bus or walking through the streets laughing to myself but never mind haha.)So yeah I think kind of associating songs with a certain moment can be very helpful for example when I hear the "emo" song I think about walking through the streets singing it at the top of my lungs with some of my bestfriends (good old afterschool walkabouts lol).
Anyway I hope this is helpful in some way...even though I went off in a bit of a tangent....haha
So before we started the actual sessions I was asked to think of A) A safe/happy place, the place was meant to be somewhere where it doesn't have much connection to someone else, more of a connection to you because if you use somewhere sayy a partners house and you were upset because of your partner then it would not really help you.I chose my bedroom because I don't like other people in my room (unless I allow them in) and I see it as MINE, anyway I had to think in detail about what was around me so I had to talk about the appearance (purple walls (at the time), fluffy pillows, candles etc), smells (perfume),sounds (music,noise from downstairs) and how it made me feel (safe).I think it could be helpful to think about this so sit down and think about this place,maybe write it down or tell someone? then when you are feeling distressed maybe think about it or even talk about it out loud and perhaps it may help you to calm down? obviously it was used in a different way for me as it was used to calm me down after speaking about traumatic experiences but it may still work.
B)A happy experience (something you are proud of?), it is also best if it has as little to do with other people as possible for the same reason as the other technique.this I actually find helpful, when I am feeling sad I still sometimes think about it.My happy experience was singing infront of my school...which I find helpful because when I think about the experience and the song I sung it does make me feel better (CrushCrushCrush, Paramore).So basically when I was feeling sad or distressed (was usually used at the end of a session to try to get me to leave the session in a reasonable state).I would think about the experience, the feelings I felt,the song and watching the people in the crowd clapping and swaying etc. Just listening to the song has a tendency to make me feel better so I think if you have a similar experience where a song or maybe even an item makes you feel better then maybe it is more effective because just seeing or hearing the object or sound may trigger the feelings that you felt at the time.Obviously I am not a professional or anything so don't just take my word for it.
Going back to music really I often find music to be very helpful,I have several situations which I tend to link to songs and if I a feeling a bit down I tend to put the songs on and I end up laughing away to myself (prob looks very silly when I am sitting on the bus or walking through the streets laughing to myself but never mind haha.)So yeah I think kind of associating songs with a certain moment can be very helpful for example when I hear the "emo" song I think about walking through the streets singing it at the top of my lungs with some of my bestfriends (good old afterschool walkabouts lol).
Anyway I hope this is helpful in some way...even though I went off in a bit of a tangent....haha