Tag Archive for 'triggered in traffic'

Stuck and Can’t Move Forward or Backward

EMDR is always remarkable when it shows a trail of links that are surprising. Once they are revealed however,  it helps us see just how all of us can get caught in a snare that we never knew existed within us. Last week a client was re-experiencing anxiety when caught in traffic.  As we began the work of the session, his words that described his negative self-talk were, “I’m stuck and can’t move forward or backward.” As is often the case, quickly in the session, he was recalling two childhood events, one with a nurse and one with a dentist. In both cases, he was terrified because he was being given a shot (‘stuck’ by a needle)  and restrained by the professional. As the process of EMDR can, we moved into reprocessing those events so that “being stuck in traffic–unable to move forward or backward” didn’t trigger the panic of his “inner child”.  Always a wonderful experience to see a client get free.