How to decide what EMDR “target” we need to start desensitising and psychoeducate the client from a strength based perspective.
Davy “If I bring you into a room full of balloons from floor to ceiling, but one balloon is tight against your face, how many balloons can you see?”
Invariably the client says “One”.
Davy – “If I burst the balloon that’s against your face, suddenly you can see lots of other balloons,
BUT
those balloons were always there, you just could not see past the balloon pressed against your face.”
The same thing can happen to your traumatic memories. You have one which at present you cannot see past, but others may or may not appear over the next few days.
“This is NORMAL.
You are not going crazy, losing your mind or getting worse. You are in fact moving towards healing.”
This “normalizing” of what may or may not occur gives the client an explanation and a feeling of power over what is going on.
This is empowerment rather than disempowerment. We are working from a strengths-based perspective.