EMDR and Brainspotting

So I talked to Jeanne on the phone this morning. We are going to try EMDR and Brainspotting in my future sessions with her. EMDR, according to the Cognitive Therapy Associates website is as follows:

"Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is a psychotherapeutic technique used by licensed mental health practitioners who are trained in this protocol to facilitate the recovery of those suffering from aftereffects of traumatic events. In this technique, the therapist guides the person in right/left eye movement and other right/left brain stimulation as he or she recounts the event. Also, the person gets to choose their actions rather than feeling powerless over his or her reactions. The goal is to release blocked emotional experience (memories and distress) as well as successful integration of the event, resulting in symptom relief and healing."

Brainspotting, according to the website http://www.robertweiszphd.com/Brainspotting/ is as follows:

"Brainspotting is a powerful, focused treatment method that works by identifying, processing and releasing core neurophysiological sources of emotional/body pain, trauma, dissociation and a variety of other challenging symptoms. Brainspotting is a simultaneous form of diagnosis and treatment, enhanced with Biolateral sound, which is deep, direct, and powerful yet focused and containing."

I don't quite understand either of these methods just yet, so I can't give much further info on them. Jeanne told me to go to the EMDRIA website; EMDRIA stands for EMDR International Association. For the next four days she is going to attend a course for Brainspotting. She is already trained in EMDR and will be helping me deal with the strength of my emotions when I feel like I have little to no control over a situation. These methods are ultimately going to be treating my PTSD.

Yesterday I saw Dr. K, and he gave me the worksheets to get started on the cognitive therapy exercises he wants me to do. Hopefully all of these forms of therapy will help me feel a little better than I have been.

Tropical storm on the way...

Well, tropical storm Hanna is on it's way. I went to the grocery store tonight, like many, and picked up some basic food items so I don't have to go anywhere this weekend. There were no 'hand baskets' left by the entrance as the store was very busy. I took a different way home to bypass all the traffic and I ended up getting slightly lost because one of the roads was totally blocked. It probably would have taken the same amount of time to get home had I sat in the traffic.

I had a really good visit with my boyfriend. He's been working the night shift, so I've been staying up late to be able to talk to him when he gets home. Today I've been really tired, I took a nap in the middle of the afternoon and I might take another one before he calls. I look forward to his call and tonight I will find out when he's going to visit me next.

It's funny that I wrote about cognitive therapy in my last entry, because this past Tuesday my therapist suggested it. He recommended that I purchase a book called The Feeling Good Handbook by David Burns, MD. If I were to follow through with this therapy, I would have 'homework' to do. I've done this therapy once before in 2005. It involves writing down troubling thoughts and then analyzing them to learn why they are irrational. This process is supposed to train me enough so that my troubling thoughts don't recur or occur as often. That is what I remember from it.

I think I am going to take my nap now.

All that keeps running through my head

I pulled an all-nighter last night. I think it's because I had a 24 oz coffee from 7-Eleven. It wasn't decaf. So I've been sleeping on and off throughout the day today. Everyone I know is working or at parties so I don't mind having slept most of the afternoon. My boyfriend brought to my attention that I could volunteer on the weekends, instead of being bored all the time. My initial reaction was that I felt he was telling me what to do. I've thought about it though and I realize he was just trying to help me out, like he always does. I wish I could look at the volunteer book from the hospital online, instead of having to drag myself there and sit in a tiny room thumbing through a huge book trying to pick out an assignment. I think I remember though that most of the assignments were M-F. I might still eventually go there to see if I could find something for the weekend.

All that keeps running through my head lately is that my therapist Jeanne is now on vacation for three weeks. I still have Dr. K., but it's different. If Dr. K. went on vacation it would not affect me as much. Most of my deep issues are worked on with Jeanne. Dr.K. and I once had our own small tea party. It's like that.

A friend of mine insists that psychotherapy is not the answer. According to him cognitive therapy is the way to go. He argues that in psychotherapy, the patient is constantly venting. Getting things out, and talking about problems, but where does that end? He said it just tends to go on and on, not solving anything. You could talk until your face was blue and you would be at the same position you were at before you even met your psychotherapist. I don't know if I 100% agree. I can see where he is coming from though. It does seem that the need to vent never ends.

"Are you lost or incomplete?
Do you feel like a puzzle, you can't find your missing piece?
Tell me how you feel?
Well I feel like they're talking in a language I don't speak
And they're talking it to me"

The above lyrics are from 'Talk' by Coldplay off of their X&Y album.