Can EMDR Help Me if I Don't Know What to Process?
EMDR Therapy in Colorado Springs
Most of my EMDR clients start the process saying something along the lines of... I struggle with these feelings that I know are from my childhood, but it's hard to think of specific memories that are significant. Or... I have so many memories that it's hard for me to narrow down what's important and I don't know how to decide.
This is common, and the good news is, you can still benefit tremendously from EMDR even if you're unsure where to start.
Most of my clients don't know where to start narrowing down what to process in EMDR, and I tell them not to worry, we'll walk together through a step by step process to identify a starting point, an end goal, and a process to get there.
First, we start with symptoms
Most people show up in therapy with symptoms like anxiety, depression, overwhelm, or feeling triggered in certain situations. These symptoms typically have an underlying cause, which is what we aim to resolve with EMDR. By looking at the symptoms that brought you into therapy, we can link them to past experiences you've had that would be helpful to process.
Next, we'll identify goals
If you were symptom free and life was good, what would that look like? That's what we're working towards. Everything we do in EMDR is intentional, meant to move you towards a future goal of resolution and relief. Identifying your goals helps us further narrow down what past experiences and current triggers are most relevant to process.
Finally, we inventory significant life experiences to create a specific plan
Together we'll create a bullet point timeline of your life that gives us an overview of experiences and memories that have shaped you. Sometimes these experiences and memories are specific, but often they're vague or seemingly small. Whether the memories we're working with are specific single events or vague overarching themes, this inventory gives us the material we need to make a concrete plan for EMDR processing.
With a clear goal in mind and a list of symptoms to resolve, we'll filter our inventory of memories and experiences through what is most relevant for your healing and relief
We don't have to process everything from your life, just what is most relevant to your current symptoms and goals
We'll typically pick between 1 to 4 memories from our list - the goal isn't to process your entire life, only what helps you feel better in your life in the here and now. I always say the memories we pick don't have to be perfect, they are entry points - because your memories are all networked and interconnected, if we have a good entry point then it will facilitate the process and your mind will naturally go where it needs to go and connect to important memories.
Once we have a plan for EMDR, we can work through it to resolve both symptoms and underlying causes at a deep and lasting level
By creating a solid plan for EMDR, I've helped clients reach a point of resolution with issues that initially felt vague or hard to define, like...
Non-specific and ongoing childhood memories or traumas
Negative beliefs
General insecurities
Phobias
Recurring nightmares
Triggering situations
Relationship stress or uncertainty
Boundaries and people pleasing
Generalized anxiety
Meeting or work anxiety
Imposter syndrome
Performance anxiety
...even when they didn't know where to start.
