Part 2 of 3
As I glance at my notes from the first session with Jenny, a big smile appears on my face. It promises to be a great meeting again.
In the previous session, it became clear how Jenny made contact with her body effortlessly. We did an exercise where she felt the fear inside her. “It’s like a utility pole is vibrating inside me,” she said in a low voice, flinching. I asked her to look at that utility pole from a distance. Almost immediately, she sat up and took a deeper breath. After the exercise, she said she saw herself as a child, locked up in the basement.
That someone, like Jenny, connects so easily with her physical perceptions is often a sign to me that EMDR will soon take effect, too. Today, we will get to work on it.
Jenny happily steps into the practice room. ‘I’ve been practicing a lot with what I discovered with you last time. I find it quite difficult to stop judging myself. I still have some work to do there,’ she says with a laugh. ‘What I like is that I notice more and more how I can influence my emotions just by distancing myself from them.’
“That’s a good start, Jenny,” I say optimistically. I explain that emotions are based on beliefs we have. ‘Just try to change your belief and then experience the difference in emotion.’
I can see her thinking.
‘Just to make sure I understand you correctly, I am reminded of the conversation I had with my supervisor last week. She assured me that I could actually insert the catheter into a particular patient. The belief that it was bound to go wrong gave me an incredible amount of tension. I just want to do everything perfectly. Do you understand?’
‘I understand that like no other. Last time, I told you about the enormous uncertainty that bothered me, myself. Everything had to be perfect. To be honest, I haven’t completely lost that,’ I say cheerfully. ‘It’s continuous practice. Please continue to explain the effect of your beliefs on your emotions. I’m curious.’
Jenny continues passionately, “If I change that belief to ‘I can do it,’ I will feel calmer, which will probably make it easier.”
‘You got it. Super! Go and experience the effect in the near future. ‘
We do an EMDR session based on that nasty memory in the basement. Her body reacts with vibrations. Anger and sadness are released. After 15 minutes, she becomes calm. I ask her to connect with the little girl back then and give her some suggestions on how to do this.
Soon after, I see tears running down Jenny’s cheeks and a big smile break through. Her eyes are still closed. For me, a sign that the connection with the damaged child has been made.
It is quiet in the practice room for several minutes.
When she opens her eyes again, she says that she took the little girl in her lap and whispered sweet words to her.
In the third and last part, you can read more about Jenny.