Being Comfortable with the Uncomfortable
The Act of Healing Can Hurt
Healing is messy, it's difficult, and it's often not fun. If we think of healing from a physical standpoint, this can alleviate our dread over emotional healing. Remember riding your bike down the road or a massive hill as a kid? Suddenly, we lose control of the handlebars, flip over the front, and skin our knees and the palms of our hands. Pebbles of concrete are stuck to our skin, it stings, and it burns as we pry ourselves off the ground and walk our bike back to the house to repair our scrapes and soon to be bruises. To clean the wound, we have to start by getting rid of the concrete pebbles and anything else that got in there. The sting of water or peroxide is typically worse than the fall. But on the flip side of this, if we don't clean the wound, it will get infected. While emotional healing is more abstract than physical healing, it's still necessary and needed. Otherwise, we walk around with wounds that we just can't see.
What Healing in EMDR Therapy Can Look Like
In EMDR, a person is asked to bring up the most disturbing part of an image and follow eye movements or other bilateral stimulation. This helps the brain process the memory that wasn't stored correctly and find new and more adaptive ways of keeping the memory in the brain. (Side Note - I won't go into a lot of the mechanics of EMDR in this blog article, but you can refer to the many other blog articles I've written that describe this process more in detail.)
It can be difficult sitting with uncomfortable memories, emotions, and images. As a therapist trained in EMDR therapy, this is why we focus on building resources or strengths that one can fall back on when feeling stressed or uncomfortable. However, no matter the amount of resources, one of the best resources is the essential need to listen to what you need at the moment, and if you need to pause processing because you're feeling too overwhelmed.
As processing continues, what typically happens is that the stress level goes down, and the images might slightly shift. Some clients describe it as feeling further away; others notice the volume is lowered or other aspects. After successful processing, the positive message or belief feels more potent than before.
Finding the Right Form of Healing for Your Stress, Anxiety, and Trauma
Being comfortable with EMDR therapy can look different from typical talk therapy. In typical talk therapy, clients can find relief by talking about issues that have bothered them while feeling heard and seen. Clients may be able to find new perspectives or challenge current behaviors with new tools they learn from therapy. In either case - the actual act of healing (physical or emotional) is rarely comfortable. However, if we can put in the effort and find the form of healing that fits us best, it is so entirely worth it. Instead of feeling like we are walking around with a gaping, oozing, infected wound, we can feel some sense of relief and the ability to go through living the life we want and deserve. If you are wanting to pursue therapy, please reach out today for a free consultation, and see if we are a good match.
Hey there! I really appreciate you reading my blog, I hope it has been helpful and given you some meaningful information. Have a wonderful day!
Kandace
If you are struggling to find help with trauma or anxiety and are looking for an anxiety therapist here in Tampa or EMDR therapy here in Tampa (or virtually anywhere in Florida), schedule a free 15-minute consultation. I’d love to chat and help you get where you want to be.
You can find more information about me, what I do, as well as weekly inspirational messages on my Instagram @soulmission_therapyandyoga or on my Facebook page.
