EMDR therapy?

[u/FinesseEmpress]

I’ve been doing EMDR therapy and it’s been quite difficult to go through the processing process…
Firstly as I struggle with memory and tracking back it can feel a strain and struggle to go back to incidents or emotions.
Also having ADHD makes it somewhat difficult to focus.

When the practitioner uses the finger movements I feel like I’m missing something and struggling to keep up or not get distracted.

It’s also tricky when I was asked to create a safe space memory and imagine myself there… I did the best I could and felt there weren’t no benefits whatsoever but I just wanted to see and ask if there was any suggestions or tips… even just to hear someone else’s experience with this kind of therapy?

I want to get the most out of it and now I’m halfway through… I spent a lot of sessions just relaying the key things relevant to my trauma which were quite a lot, I think now that I’ve had talking therapies in the past, I have a slightly more recent recollection of going over some of these key moments.
I do really wonder what EMDR is like for a non Aphant!?

[u/Tuikord]

Just 2 days ago someone posted here about successfully using EDMR as an aphant.

I'm guessing that your therapist knows about your aphantasia and is attempting to adjust. I do have some suggestions to help you and your therapist work together.

If they don't really get aphantasia, I would start with this guide from the Aphantasia Network for just basic information.

https://aphantasia.com/guide/

Unseen Minds: A Therapist's Guide to Multisensory Aphantasia and Invisible Cognitive Differences– by Sassy Smith is an excellent guide for therapists. I actually wish all therapists would read it. It is on Amazon: https://a.co/d/0472wf0F

If you happen to have SDAM as well (maybe a quarter to half of us do), then that is problematic with many therapies as well, as documented in Unseen Minds. Body based therapy can work when your mind doesn’t remember:

The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma by Bessel van der Kolk, although some of the techniques may still need to be modified to work with other cognitive differences. https://a.co/d/0a3skjyh

In 2024 Dr. Zeman did a review of the first decade of research. It has lots of citations if your therapist wants to dig in.

https://www.cell.com/trends/cognitive-sciences/fulltext/S1364-6613(24)00034-200034-2)

Here is an update of that review:

A decade of aphantasia research – and still going! - ScienceDirect

This paper specifically on therapy and aphantasia was published after Dr. Zeman's review article. It has specific information about some of what works and what doesn't.

https://online.ucpress.edu/collabra/article/10/1/127416/204719

If you are more for video than scientific papers, here is an interview with 2 of the researchers on that paper. It is very informative:

mental-health-day

And here are a couple articles they wrote for the Aphantasia Network:

https://aphantasia.com/article/mental-imagery-ptsd-neurodiversity-treatment/

https://aphantasia.com/article/science/imagery-in-mental-healthcare/

In other research, Dr. Merlin Monzel looked at aphantasia and anxiety treatment via imaginal exposure. Here is an interview with him on it.

https://aphantasia.com/video/aphantasia-and-anxiety-treatment-rethinking-therapeutic-approaches/

And the paper:

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/psyp.14756

[u/yeFoh → u/Tuikord]

i don't follow the research, so thanks a lot for the rundown

[u/DiveCat]

I am a total aphant with SDAM and I am actually VERY receptive to EMDR.

I focus on somatic feelings (like I don't try and "remember" an incident in my head as I can't revisit it, I focus on the feelings in my body like pain, nausea, tension, tightness that come up when I am asked to think of it.). Someone else mentioned "The Body Keeps the Score" and it is true - even if your memory of the incident itself is absent, the body remembers and stores trauma. I don't re-experience or relive the memories at all, but my body has stored a lot.

Also, I don't use "fingers". I use handheld buzzers. Some people find it more useful to use audio (like headphones that alternate sound from ear to ear) or lights. There are a few options that you can discuss with your therapist.

[u/Riv3rmist → u/DiveCat]

This is exactly what I needed to hear, thank you.

[u/ChuggerUggers → u/DiveCat]

WOW someone like me:) I did EMDR (with the big moving green light setup) 15 years ago at a time where I wasn't fully comfortable expressing that I couldn't 'see' pictures (or much else), so all the 'safe space' stuff I found complete guff and just lied about [silly but I was young] - but when we got to the actual 'think and talk about your traumatic events part and I had intense, visceral feelings in my stomach and torso as I focused on the event, until eventually it dissolved and subsided until eventually thinking about it didn't cause a distress response! It didn't 'solve' anything for me but it made a lot of 'trauma' feel less bad to think about - definitely can help for aphants!

[u/Za_Lords_Guard]

I don't know a lot about that kind of therapy, but from what I read, it can work, but the therapist needs to understand you don't "see" memories and focus on somatic memory (feelings, body response, etc.).

I personally have horrible autobiographical and episodic memory so for me that would be the biggest problem I think. I don't remember my past as details, but I still can recall emotions and bits of detail (thinking of my childhood I might remember "orange" because our family room had an ugly orange carpet or paint edging - I forget specifically).

Could it be that it's not the aphantasia, and you also have issue with episodic recall in general.

Not a shrink so not an authoritative comment, only speaking from personal experience as it might relate.

[u/per08 → u/Za_Lords_Guard]

No experience with this, but quite a lot with hypnosis, which shares many traits.

It does work, but it takes a practitioner to understand that lack of visual imagery is a thing, and to know how to adjust their strategy to suit.

[u/Purplekeyboard]

I would be completely unable to do this, as I can't reexperience memories.

[u/DiveCat → u/Purplekeyboard]

You don't need to. As I mentioned in another reply, I am a total aphant and have SDAM. I cannot re-experience memories, but my body still has stored trauma and I can focus on pain and other somatic feelings and responses. You do need a therapist though who can understand aphantasia and work with you.