Re: DID and EMDR
I know you realize I can't comment on YOU in particular. And one person's system can be quite different from the next person's, but in general, speaking about MOST people, if any part is reluctant then EMDR should not be done until and unless that part's concerns have been addressed. It is there for a reason. Therapist attachment is a big one. Mistrust can be for a couple different reasons: 1) the therapist isn't trustworthy, OR 2) trust is a big issue for the client, always has been, and that is being reenacted in the present relationship. In my office, it is the latter that applies (that is, people don't know that I am trustworthy and they are fearful because of their own history). In general then, clients can ask themselves (if they are on speaking terms with themselves) -- could this be part of a memory? mistrust might be leaking up through the floorboards?
A final point. Usually that protection is from a different part of self - a protector part. When front parts have concerns it is often (not always) about loss of control. So then, to test that, clients can ask themselves....could control be part of a memory? are control issues leaking up through the floorboards?
If I had a bumper sticker, it would say, "could your concern be part of a memory?" Now most DID people can't answer these questions well on their own. That's what therapists are for, to facilitate that discussion. But therapists can't facilitate a discussion of a concern they don't know about.
|