Posted by DL on December 17, 1998, at 23:16:28
In reply to Re: EMDR?????, posted by Toby on December 17, 1998, at 9:22:11
Thanks for being there. I spoke to the psychologist who left the message the other day (the other cog beh place). He told me he was trained in EMDR (also at Harvard) and that it could be very effective, although not for everything. He said there are many methods used in therapy and that he would want to interview me before he made the decision that EMDR was the best tool to use. He will be on vacation next week and said he only had one appt open before the new year, but that he does work with both the ins co's involved. He also knows the therapist who has been seeing me and suggested I keep the appt with her in 2 days and discuss with her either having a consult with him (recommended by her) or just starting fresh with the new company if I still want to see him.
I did not call the secretary from the other office since I was unsure at that point what to do after talking to the above person. It seems like a lot of people are taking next week off so I may not have the option to see someone through the present co.
I don'tknow why this is so hard for me. What do you think of the above comment? Do you agree? Since I couldn't get an appt this week anyway I will keep the Sat appt. But am a little confused with the choices. Should I just insist on EMDR and find someone who agrees on the phone, or does the person at the beginning of this message make sense? Both places at cog-beh groups that are local. I guess I am also in the clutches of the nameless dread. Haven't yet heard from any of the other 5 people.
> Call back both the one who left a message and the secretary for the therapists he referred you to. Ask first if they even have an appointment available before Jan 1. If not, then move on to questions about insurance and what they recommend to facilitate getting a session or two paid for in the new year. If one of them does have an opening, that makes it easier; take it. It'll be OK. don't worry about whether your problem is "worthy;" I promise it is. Don't worry whether you can come up with a "trauma" or not; I once did a session with a man who had what he called "the nameless dread," just a feeling, no trauma that he could remember. He didn't really meet criteria for a "disorder" and he'd been to lots of therapists and doctors and no meds helped. He got referred to me as a last resort, he wasn't very hopeful and thought I was probably a sham artist. We did the procedure anyway and much to his surprise the dread went away. He never did recover any sort of traumatic memory or anything, although he did work through some problems that had been caused by the feeling. I saw his family doctor several months ago and he told me the man was doing well, no meds, working and engaged (hadn't worked or dated in about 7 years). So no problem is too vague or simple to work on. And let me reiterate: I myself was not the miracle worker here; in fact I didn't say more than a dozen words in the whole two hours; the healing came from within the patient and it persists.
poster:DL
thread:1428
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/19981201/msgs/1625.html