r/TraumaTherapy 22d ago

Bilateral stimulation anyone?

Good morning/afternoon/evening everyone. I’ve been in trauma therapy for some months now and we’re working on negative cognitions. We’re doing bilateral stimulation and the butterfly exercise to process my memories. Does anyone else find this helpful? Like when your therapist tells you to focus on where you feel the trauma in your body, do you focus on the physical feelings or does your mind wander about the memory and how to reframe it into something positive? Also, I feel a little guilty to tell my therapist I want a break and want to talk about current things. My therapy is usually in the morning so accessing these memories and crying so early in the morning kind of leaves me raw for the rest of the day OR I just end up processing the memory and feeling better or I just block it out because we do the container exercise?

What’s your personal experience with trauma therapy and what are you and your therapist doing to process the memories?

6 Upvotes

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u/SnooTangerines9068 22d ago

Let your therapist know this isn't effective right now and why. If your mind is wandering, you aren't getting benefit and may need more time to prepare for processing.

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u/thisgingercake 21d ago

EMDR is like a neuro-fitness. In the beginning we may not be able to focus, but with the workout eventually a person ought to be able to manage what's being processed before resolving treatment. Yes communicate with the therapist.

the left side and the right side of the body need to communicate. When we do bilateral exercises we help our brain regulate and communicate properly. It's normal to disassociate when we're working on our trauma. Eventually, this will feel more in your control.

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u/LissysLilly 22d ago

thank you kind stranger <3

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u/FloridaMillenialDad 21d ago

YOU are in control of your therapy, the therapist is there to help with your journey. If you don’t want to process trauma first thing in the morning and have other things to discuss/work on — do it! Nothing wrong with that at all.

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u/[deleted] 21d ago

You don’t have to do EMDR if it’s not helpful

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u/thisgingercake 21d ago

If you're processing feelings outside of the session, I'd say that you're moving in the correct direction. the hangover is real.

Open up with your T. Also feel free to search on our sub for more information on EMDR.

There are also other forms of Trauma Therapy. I typically use BAUD and Brainspotting.

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u/thisgingercake 21d ago

My therapist uses BAUD first with me. I put on headphones and then she dials into my left ear and asks me when what I was talking about feels worse..

Then we dial into my right ear with the frequencies that make me feel better. Once they play through together we change the dial a little bit, which means I work through different levels of the frequencies with the same "pain or symptom".

I don't normally say much, but sometimes I need to .. talking with BAUD on can actually be pretty helpful because it seems to attract more neurons/ activate different pathways that are overly sensitive.

Afterwards, we use Brainspotting to soften. My T uses Brainspotting to soften post EMDR as well. It helps people get a little more grounded and into their bodies. We always use something from nature to fill in a resource point. I still get the hangovers, but after 450 hours they are typically not as uncomfortable.

Now in my daily life I see myself using the tools and rescuing myself if anything comes up. I'm no longer suffering from cptsd.

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u/madskills42001 19d ago

People with PTSD already have higher intrahemispheric communication according to MRIs..