| EMDR Heals the Wounded Soul | |
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You may know Eponine as a host in our chat room. Her story is a bit different from Leeny's. She has PTSD as a result of two major events in her adult life: the murder of a very close friend followed closely by the suicide of another dear friend. Her extreme grief over these two violent, traumatic losses left her with symptoms of nightmares, panic attacks, nausea and severe depression that she was unable to shake despite years of talk therapy, support groups and medication. She finally got up the courage to begin EMDR.
Eponine describes EMDR as "a total
phenomenon". She says, "It took about four to six sessions to
desensitize me to all of the nightmares, panic attacks, vomiting, etc. that
would come with my PTSD and her death. I cannot explain in words how this
worked, but I tell you from my heart that today I have been able to start my
life over, thanks to EMDR." She further adds, "I have been able
to go to the place of her death, lay a dozen yellow roses down, bid my farewell,
and put closure on this death that was not only hers, but that part of me that
died too."
Although EMDR has worked wonders in her healing, Eponine admits that it was not
easy in the beginning. She says, "I was really scared the first time
I walked into the office to do the session. I was panicky, frightened,
nauseated, frustrated, and near nervous breakdown."
The first session went very well, however, and she began to
work with her therapist to plan what other areas of her life she could work on.
Eponine says she believes that if you feel "stuck" in an area it is
because you have been traumatized somehow. One of EMDR's strengths is that
it helps you to the remember forgotten traumas and to discover the basis for
your fears.
One of her first sessions was set up to find out why she afraid of sex.
This issue had long her puzzled because she had never been sexually abused.
When she went through the session she learned some surprising
things. As a child she had been subjected to a series of minor vaginal
surgeries without anesthesia. This was the source of her fears. This single
session was such a breakthrough for her that she says, "I was able to go
home to my fiance and share the most beautiful moment of my life."
She adds, "I couldn't believe how that one EMDR session changed my
life. I was not scared, I was not terrified, I was not nauseated. I
was in a beautiful place, finally. I was at peace with my womanhood...for
the first time."
Eponine concludes by saying that, "EMDR is an exhausting and very intense
form of therapy, but it works. Wonderful peace has come from EMDR for me,
and I hope that you may find that peace as well."
