There are times with some memories… and some memories that we may have to work on… maybe even before the client is fully prepared to… where there may be parts of the memory that just have too much volatility or too much and accessing it is kind of like a pipe… a water hose that has 500 pounds per square inch of pressure… even just thinking about it a little bit causes stuff to spew everywhere. If you have particular pieces of the memory that need to be processed and the client is having trouble, have a bean bag, have another toy, throw it in the air a little bit, have the client catch it. Think about the memory only when the bean bag is in the air. The bean bag with gravity serves as a kind of timer. If the client needs a little bit more time, they can throw it up higher. It helps promote present-based awareness. It helps keep you here in this moment. A bean bag can help prevent overactivation and can help you bring just a tiny piece of the memory and then in EMDR notice, notice, notice that little bit of activation. You do this, catch it until the client is able to interact with the memory in a more tolerable way, then put the bean bag down and resume your standard processes. Options. Sometimes we do need to just take a tiny slice at a time of something. And notice that. Thank you.
365 Questions About EMDR With Complex Trauma 