By Adrienne Loker, LCSW, EMDR, SE
If you haven't practiced the previous EMDR Tools located here, it's highly recommended that you do that first to create a foundation in your nervous system. You can find more EMDR tools in our free video library here.
EMDR is a powerful trauma psychotherapy that can quickly desensitize the distress caused by a traumatic memory. However, it can move too fast and be too much on the nervous system – unintentionally causing retraumatization.
The most efficient and effective way to use EMDR is by integrating it with somatic therapy and ego state therapy.
This exercise below is a sample of what a Somatically-Centered EMDR session looks like.
Think of something within the past week that was mildly annoying. On a scale from 1-10, with 10 being the worst and 1 being neutral, try to pick something lower than a 4.
As you immerse yourself in this annoyance, notice the image that’s reflected in your mind’s eye.
Seeing this image, scan your body to see where this distress lives inside.
As you notice the physical sensations association with this image, let the sensation fill in the following statement: “I am ________.”
If this statement is not autonomously about you, then there is a protector part of you trying to deflect from this exercise – as they don’t feel safe exploring discomfort. Thank this part of you for showing up and see if we can’t get its permission to move forward.
Now, let your mind floatback to the either the very first time or the most significant time you can recall feeling this sensation and holding this belief before.
As your mind goes back in time, notice how old you are in this memory. Let yourself get curious about what this part of yourself needs from you in this moment. Be mindful that speaking for your parts, rather than really tuning in to what they need, is a form of self-neglect.
Some indicators that you may be neglecting yourself include the following statements:
“I/they just need to let go.”
“They just need to go away.”
“They’re fine.”
If this exercise proved to be challenging, let us support you in an EMDR therapy intensive. Or, if this work was helpful, let’s deepen this process together.
In an EMDR intensive, we will aid you in:
1) Building trust among your parts of self
2) Strengthening a felt sense of safety
3) Attuning to your inner needs
4) Orienting the parts of you who think traumatic events are still happening to the present day timeline
Our approach allows you to achieve years’ worth of traditional therapy in a matter of months.
Learn more about EMDR Intensives here.
Adrienne Loker, LCSW is an EMDRIA Certified Therapist, EMDR Consultant in Training, and Somatic Experiencing Therapist. She owns and operates a trauma-sensitive therapy practice, Seeking Depth to Recovery, that specializes in the treatment of complex and non-verbal trauma, using experiential modalities in an intensive format. In as little as one 90-minute intensive therapy session, participants report marked insight into their anxiety, panic, depression, and trauma compared to their previous experience with traditional talk therapy.
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