Although my MS diagnosis came unexpectedly and suddenly, I realized that after a year and a half later, I had ongoing trauma. This surfaced with a check up with my primary care physician — not my neurologist who seemed surprised and later said, “I did not know you had trauma over your MS diagnosis.”
Really?!!!?
My PCP suggested behavioral therapy which I was skeptical about. We discussed the way I felt about having MS and how it impacted my daily life. I made a decision to try a therapy session or two. So I located a behavioral therapist. After some discussion my therapist and I chose EMDR.
Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy is a mental health treatment technique. This method involves moving your eyes a specific way while you process traumatic memories. EMDR’s goal is to help you heal from trauma or other distressing life experiences. Compared to other therapy methods, EMDR is relatively new. The first clinical trial investigating EMDR was in 1989. Dozens of clinical trials since EMDR’s development show this technique is effective and can help a person faster than many other methods.
EMDR therapy doesn’t require talking in detail about a distressing issue. EMDR instead focuses on changing the emotions, thoughts or behaviors that result from a distressing experience (trauma). This allows your brain to resume a natural healing process. While many people use the words “mind” and “brain” when referring to the same thing, they’re actually different. Your brain is an organ of your body. Your mind is the collection of thoughts, memories, beliefs and experiences that make you who you are.
The way your mind works relies on the structure of your brain. That structure involves networks of communicating brain cells across many different areas. That’s especially the case with sections that involve your memories and senses. That networking makes it faster and easier for those areas to work together. That’s why your senses — sights, sounds, smells, tastes and feels — can bring back strong memories.
Source: https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/treatments/22641-emdr-therapy
MS Fortunate 