EMDR Therapy for PTSD & more

[LZFreedom]

Have you seen the articles about EMDR as treatment for PTSD? Read on for more about PTSD & the brain.
This is really a valuable treatment mode for all forms of PTSD ~ there are articles written that refer to EMDR as
Emotional Healing At Warp Speed ~ and that has certainly been my experience! Years ago I spent a lot of time in emotional or cognitive behavioral therapy and hours upon hours in talk therapy for traumatic events and lifelong losses.
Let me tell you ~ the EMDR is a very effective short cut!! Get the help you need without spending hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars in talk therapy!

Please use a search engine and look up more resources for EMDR to get a broad range of articles on EMDR.
I'm going to provide a few of the links here:

CAUTIONS FOR CLIENTS AND CLINICIANS: WEBSITES AND QUTHORS THAT QUESTION THE EFFECTIVENESS OF EMDR, OR SAY THERE IS LITTLE RESEARCH, ARE LONG OUT OF DATE.
To view the list of research:
http://www.EMDRHAP.org/researchandresources.htm

EMDR HELP GUIDE ~ Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) Therapy:
Guide to Making an Informed Choice                    
http://www.helpguide.org/mental/emdr_therapy.htm

EMDR is known to treat PTSD, Anxiety, Panic Attacks, Depression, Anger, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, Relationship problems, Social Phobia, and even Low confidence.

I've looked for the original articles I've read on EMDR back in the early 90's but have not been able to find them. But here is more information about EMDR and PTSD treatment:

EMDR is a relatively new therapy which has been found to help people recover from trauma. EMDR is unusual because with something as simple as eye movements or tapping and accompanying free-association, it can achieve in relatively few sessions what other therapies would take years to achieve, if at all. Not only has that, brain scans indicated that it stimulates positive change in the brain. Needless to say, this is causing quite a stir.

In order to understand EMDR, one needs to have a relatively clear idea of how trauma can affect the brain. With Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), the brain fails to successfully process the trauma and it gets stuck in the central nervous system. The body fails to recognise that the person is now safe. Instead it reacts as though danger is current, and this throws the person out of balance on many levels, including emotional and physical.

EMDR is unique because it facilitates the processing of information that has become 'stuck' in the central nervous system. Brain scans have actually captured information transferring from one side of a brain to another as a person experiences an EMDR session. The same cannot be said for other forms of counselling.

This is a really important point, because the mainstream and rather outdated approach, especially in the UK, is to use talk-based therapies or drugs with PTSD. These may help for the duration they are given, but soon after they are withdrawn, the brain will loop back into the trauma and the whole cycle with start over again, which can literally lead a person to be suicidal, especially since the general attitude will be that adequate help has already been given.

In order for real healing to take place, there has to be the kind of processing that EMDR can offer.
Don't Despair Help Is At Hand
http://www.anapsys.co.uk/Disorders/EMDR.htm
End Quote.

I could actually use a few more sessions myself. There are only a few traumatic events that I treated with EMDR and sometimes I find myself having panic/anxiety reactions to certain things. I'm not a practitioner of EMDR, I've only used it as therapy. EMDR is very successful for many people ~ it will work for you too ~

[JKJ]

i have heard that EMDR is very helpful for PTSD.  unfortunately for military veterans the majority of VA facilities do not have the personnel properly trained in this type of therapy...and it is a HUGE battle to get approved to get the VA to pay for civilian care (called fee based or fee basis care).

I've had a few VA therapists tell me that this was the best therapy around...but no one they knew of was trained to do it.

[LZFreedom]

I've known Veterans that waited over 30 years for proper care post-combat, so I definitely understand. And it just makes me keep working for them as hard as I can. Their lack of care, and poor or inadequate care just enrages me. I met a gal here, Aletta, that's very pro-Vet too. She's been a great resource, and an awesome support here. I'm also hoping that they'll put a PTSD forum on here so we can keep congregating and collaborating!

Have you done any searches for EMDR practitioners on the web? Maybe you can find one near you? There's some quality web sites available. And, if your Veteran is 70-100% service connected, you can go through a specific type of billing to get the EMDR treatment outside of the VA paid for by the VA; especially b/c they don't offer it and it's a now well-known treatment for PTSD. It's a pain in the arsky, just like everything else with the VA, but it is do-able. In the meantime, I highly recommend getting connected with elder Vet's &/or more local Vet Centers ~ Hooah ~ Keep me posted ~

[JKJ]

i haven't actively sought out any docs who specialize in EMDR.  i've tried before to get fee basis care through the VA for mental health care and was told "no".....and i'm a 100% service connected vet.  the VA medical center i go to is horrid.  i'm not sure i want to go through that process again just to be shot down....i know that right now i can't handle it.  too much bad stuff going on as it is.

[LZFreedom]

Fee Basis ~ that's the term for outside billing that I coulnd't remember, thanks. Dang it, the freakin VA makes it so hard for Veterans to get care! I know the  VA doesn't like to talk about Fee Basis, but it's available for 100% sc Veterans for services not provided by the VA and sometimes in cases where the Veteran is too far away from the VA.

Do you have a service officer that can advocate and support you in a way that gets you out of the direct line of fire with the sons*byothes trying to tell you know?

I'm going to write to the VVA and see if I can get some input from them! Okay?
You can contact me at Woshi at ymail ******* ~ Peace & Respect ~

P.S. I'm also writing in to the MedHelp Suggestions Board here
http://www.medhelp.org/forums/show/110?camp=msc
to get a PTSD specific form listed here!! We'll get more people connected and we can share more information specific to PTSD ~ Hand in there Sister!!

[LZFreedom]

I know it's a total pain in the arsky... but the same dude that daily held my .357 to my head taught me that if you raise enough cain in the proper department, they're going to tell you yes. Of course Security may also respond if you raise *** in the VA...

Here's what else I found:
Fee Basis care. We may authorize you to receive Fee Basis care if we can't provide the medical services you need or if we find that you aren't physically able to travel to our facilities because of your health or the distance you must travel. To learn more about Fee Basis care and whether or not you are eligible, contact the Fee Basis staff at your local facility.

I spoke with VARO Kansas just now, and they stated that
- Veteran must be service connected.
- the necessary services must not be available locally, or it must be an emergency situation.
- need prior authorization.
- there may be a co-pay for services.
- fee basis care may be available also if excessive travel is required to receive treatment.
- fee basis care will be provided when referred by your primary medical or mental health provider.

Still giving it my best shot ~ hope this helps ~ Peace & Respect ~

[JKJ]

Hi,
Thanks for all of your input and information.  The VAMC I get care from feels that they have adequate medical personnel to provide what I need....it doesn't matter that I don't trust them.

Latest incident...my tdoc (therapist) has promised me that the 1-800 # for vets to call for suicide support...she promised that they did not use caller ID.  She lied.  I called this number (twice) and didn't even get through...I got cut off!!  But another vet I know called the number and didn't tell them anything and they had her name, # and gained access to her medical records!!!!!  No privacy in the VA system....and they claim it's all legal.  BS.

Now my records are "flagged" as a "high risk suicide" pt because I told her I tried to call this number.  So anyone who opens my medical records sees this.  So much BS.  The flag is on there for 90 days.  I found all this out by reading a Veterans regulation that is on the internet.....tdoc wont' say a word about it.  And I'm supposed to trust these people?  And they wonder why I'm always angry and further depressed.  Idiots.

They don't help at all.

[50FiFi]

hello I am a 50 year old woman in treatment clinic in la private facility

It is good has emdr but very $$$ my mother is paying for me to attend 30 days

Try to look at Menniger clinic on the web it is a teaching hospital and get yourself to their doorstep ask for vet treatment maybe they will take on cases for study etc look for health department trials - go around VA and ask your family church or town to help u

God bless and thank u for your service

[LZFreedom]

Thanks for sharing the information! Best wishes to you also!!

[bigsoldier74]

I to am a vet, of three different conflicts. I suffer badly from PTSD. The army has done very little in terms of long term help. They try to keep us drugged up and shovel us off to the VA when they feel that they can do no more. I am glad you gave me a heads up on how the VA works, because i will soon be out of the Army and seeking help on the streets. If anyone knows of a solid reputable treatment for PTSD please let me know.