To All The Dreamers Out There

Since starting my practicum experience at Eau Claire Academy (ECA) I have been reading a book on EMDR during my downtime there. I am only a few chapters in because Lita keeps me pretty busy, but am really enjoying the book. I have done a bit of research in the past on EMDR and written a few papers about it, but never read an entire book on it. For those of you not well ad versed in my therapy world, EMDR(Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) is a kind of therapy  that was originally designed to alleviate the distress associated with traumatic memories. It asks clients to recall details of traumatic events while focusing on an external stimulus, typically following the therapist's laterally moving finger. Of course it is more complex then that, but that is about as simple as I can make it. It is a kind of treatment that I would have to be formally trained in and be certified to administer. I think it is one that I may look into once I graduate. I feel as though it could be useful for the clientele I am wanting to work with. It is a very intense and fast paced therapy that has had very good success with such populations as individuals with PTSD. This, of course, could apply to some of the individuals whom self harm that I intended on eventually working with. Evidence is still being gathered on how well it works with that population. The intensity can be triggering for some individuals.Luckily I want to work in residential, so individuals could be well monitored. But that's thinking too far ahead...

The most interesting thing thus far in the book is a portion of a chapter that discusses dreams. Call me crazy but I have always been one of those people whom thought that dreams meant someone. I have never been all Freud and been crazy about analyzing them, but have always been interested in interpretations of dreams. My sister bought me a dream dictionary that I use quite a bit for fun. Some of it is helpful, other bits don't seem to fit for myself or the people whom have asked me to look something up in the book.

I think the the danger with using a book of that sorts is that dreams are so subjective. In order to look up something in one of those books the stimulus needs to be relatively neutral for the dreamer. This, of course, doesn't usually work if you are dreaming about specific people. People are usually not neutral. Our life experiences determine what we see as neutral in the waking world. An oak tree could be neutral to me, but be connected to a memory or person, which would change the interpretation of the dream to align with the dreamers experience.

I have completely gotten off track so I will stop there...I could go a long time on that topic. Back to the EMDR book.

According to the book, dreams might possibly be a way for our minds to process information, including significant life events and unresolved issues that have been triggered in waking life. There has been a correlation between the eye movements of REM sleep and the brain processing information. It is thought that this is similar to how EMDR works so quickly and effectively to help the brain speed up the process of healing that was stalled during the traumatic event.    

Anybody else out there find this amazing? I just think it is unbelievable what EMDR can do in such a short amount of time for someone. It is something I am definitely going to learn more about. 

In practicum we have been asked to think about our theoretical orientation. I do not have one. I like the structure that comes with CBT, a therapy that I was required to take a course on and that is emphasized in the program. There is no denying that it works, and I am sure I will use many aspects of it in my therapy post graduation. Particularly at first, when I am still developing myself as a therapist. But I do not feel it is the end all be all. I prefer the additional complexity of DBT, which is derived from CBT but was created to work with the borderline personality disorder population...another population that fascinates me because of their complexity. This population also has issues with self-harm sometimes and DBT specifically addresses self-harm in therapy. Clearly another good choice for me. 

The other therapy I am interested in learning about would be the programming specifically created for NSSI (non suicidal self injury) by the S.A.F.E Alternatives program. It was the first facility to open up that specifically addresses and is tailored for NSSI. It is an amazing program with a wonderful success rate. A place I would love to work someday. The programming is outlined on the website, but I am unsure exactly how it works. There is very little published studies on it and nothing to be found about the theories used. From what I can tell, it appeared to be a combination of the above theories I have mentioned but with the central focus on making the  choice to stop engaging in NSSI. I am wanting to take a tour this summer and see if it really is all it seems to be. It is a nationally known treatment center and, as far as I know, the only center of its kind in existence. 

I am hopeful that I can work on further developing this within my internship....even though I do not have any clients currently that engage in NSSI. I might have to work on the other theories I subscribe to in the time being. Sad, but helpful and useful since it will be many years until I will get to work with specifically that population I have a feeling.