EMDR Therapy – A Personal Reflection

EMDR therapy. It’s almost like surgery on the brain, if I were to compare it to the body, which I think is the easiest way to make the comparison. For example, if you had a knee injury, and in my case, my brain wasn’t so bad. Similar to the knee, I could do many different things. However, when it came to high performance, so to speak, performing at my best, keeping at my best, there were times when I would feel the injury.

After the EMDR, it’s really as if I have a brand new knee, and you really don’t appreciate it until you encounter situations again. So, again, back to the knee. For example, you really don’t realize how fast you can run, how your mobility is so much better. And, since that mobility is better, you’re able to work differently, you’re able to do tasks in a different way. It really has such a profound impact, and that is the same with the brain.

You don’t appreciate how much the EMDR has changed your thought process until you encounter those past situations, until you encounter your daily problems again, and see them not simply in a different light. I feel my thought process is very similar to what it used to be. However, I don’t have these toxic needs, these toxic emotions that affected my execution of my goals, dreams, and ambitions.

Those three things have stayed the same; my goals, my dreams, and my ambitions are the same as they were before EMDR. However, my execution, my planning, how I approach attaining those goals, dreams, and ambitions, is different. When it comes to relationships, there’s a pretty big difference internally. Externally, I don’t think people see as much of a difference; they’ll see a subtle change but not as much as I feel internally, especially when it comes to my feelings for other people, and how I manage and compartmentalize those feelings.