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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 13 of 13. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Anemone on July 11, 2011, at 18:50:06
Today my T announced that she was going to try something new to help with my anxiety.
She gave me her ipod with headphones to listen to nature music.
Then she sat closer to me, face to face, and took out a pointer and asked me to follow its tip with my eyes. She moved the pointer slowly left to right, asked me to choose which position felt "most anxious", and where in my body I felt the anxious sensations.
I chose the centre position because the pointer was right in front of her face, and I felt nervous about looking right at her behind the pointer's tip.
She was trying to get me to answer based on body sensations, but I couldn't help feeling affected by what I saw behind the pointer.
She did this with me for a whole hour, made me stare at the pointer's tip and tell her about any sensations and feelings that came up.
The whole time I felt worried about whether I was "doing it right", (I wasn't sure what I was supposed to feel), and about her feeling bored.
Later, she told me this was called "Brainspotting" and it helps create neural-whatever pathways in my brain. The music was alternated from left to right, for a "bilateral effect" on the brain, which means to help both sides of the brain do something blah,...(forgot what she said....).
What I loved about this exercise was sitting with her, I had never sat so closely to her before. I feel skeptical, but want to believe in it, and to do a good job and cooperate with her.
Posted by Anemone on July 11, 2011, at 19:16:59
In reply to I thought we were just going to talk, but..., posted by Anemone on July 11, 2011, at 18:50:06
I honestly didn't feel any different looking left, centre or right, but she expected me to feel a difference. I felt like I had to choose something, anything, to cooperate with her.
Posted by sigismund on July 11, 2011, at 19:38:26
In reply to I thought we were just going to talk, but..., posted by Anemone on July 11, 2011, at 18:50:06
>What I loved about this exercise was sitting with her, I had never sat so closely to her before. I feel skeptical, but want to believe in it, and to do a good job and cooperate with her.
Like hypnotism then?
I never got on with my brother, but at that boarding school he tried to hypnotise me once to cure me of my homesickness (when I was 11) and it was the most beautiful experience, just sitting there and letting his words surround me.
Posted by emmanuel98 on July 11, 2011, at 21:02:26
In reply to Re: I thought we were just going to talk, but..., posted by Anemone on July 11, 2011, at 19:16:59
Sounds a little crazy. Does she have a theory behind this? Did you ask her? In DBT, there is a big focus on how emotions are felt in the body. The idea is to try to get you to detach from the emotion psychologically and just be mindful of the physical sensations. I don't find it all that helpful, since the physical sensations I get with depression and anxiety are very uncomfortable and sometimes are the only way I really experience the feelings. Especially anxiety. When I had bad anxiety a few weeks ago, I wasn't even aware of any anxious thoughts, it was a purely physical and extremely uncomfortable state.
Posted by Dinah on July 11, 2011, at 21:25:16
In reply to I thought we were just going to talk, but..., posted by Anemone on July 11, 2011, at 18:50:06
It sounds like it might be based on that bilateral brain theory of EMDR. I tried EMDR, and it did nothing for me.
I think it's fair enough to have whatever reaction you actually have. These things might be useful for some clients, but they aren't useful to all clients. It's perfectly ok to tell her you aren't feeling anything different. You can give it a try or two if it's important to her, but don't be afraid to tell her the truth.
Posted by Daisym on July 11, 2011, at 22:59:46
In reply to Re: I thought we were just going to talk, but... » Anemone, posted by Dinah on July 11, 2011, at 21:25:16
It actually sounds like a modified form of Neurotherapy, which is really coming on strong the past few years. Typically it is done with a QEEG but this sounds like a simplified version of the technique.
Take what worked, let the rest go. I think you should tell her how pressured you felt to please her. THAT is really important.
Posted by pegasus on July 12, 2011, at 8:09:24
In reply to I thought we were just going to talk, but..., posted by Anemone on July 11, 2011, at 18:50:06
Brainspotting is big around here. Lots of therapists are getting trained in it. There is a whole theory and official protocol and everything. It's not something she's making up, for what that's worth.
http://www.brainspotting.pro/page/what-brainspotting
Brainspotting is similar to EMDR, although the protocol is simpler, and it doesn't have research backing up its effectiveness, as far as I know. But I think it draws from the same theory of bilateral stimulation, which is supposed to help you process and integrate traumatic memories. So they don't have so much energy anymore. At least in EMDR, that's what the bilateral stimulation of the brain is supposed to do. I don't really know much about Brainspotting, but I wanted to mention that it's not just your T being totally wacky.
It's interesting that you couldn't identify any area where things seemed more uncomfortable, except when you were looking right at your T. I agree that it seems important to share that with her honestly.
- p
Posted by Anemone on July 12, 2011, at 9:08:10
In reply to Re: I thought we were just going to talk, but... » Anemone, posted by sigismund on July 11, 2011, at 19:38:26
Hi Sigismund,
I don't think what my T did was hypnotism, but
I love the sweet, touching story about your brother hypnotizing you.
Posted by Anemone on July 12, 2011, at 9:25:12
In reply to Re: I thought we were just going to talk, but..., posted by emmanuel98 on July 11, 2011, at 21:02:26
Hi Emmanuel98,
Thanks for sharing your experience with this kind of stuff. She said Brainspotting is when certain eye positions stimulate some spot in the brain, and when I hold that eye position, I'm supposed to feel something different.
She sounded very sure this can help me, so I feel like I should go along with it.
It sounds like you are so aware of your body's feelings of depression and anxiety. I am usually not aware of my body, so it's hard for me to do this.
Posted by Anemone on July 12, 2011, at 9:28:57
In reply to Re: I thought we were just going to talk, but..., posted by emmanuel98 on July 11, 2011, at 21:02:26
Posted by Anemone on July 12, 2011, at 9:37:09
In reply to Re: I thought we were just going to talk, but... » Anemone, posted by Dinah on July 11, 2011, at 21:25:16
Thank you Dinah, I feel better knowing you didn't find EMDR helpful.
I just felt like a bad client when I didn't react to Brainspotting the way she wanted me to.
She felt like she didn't know what else to do to help me. I wanted to cooperate so she doesn't feel frustrated with me.
I think if I improve my career situation and solve money problems, then I wouldn't feel anxious. But she thinks I can't accomplish these things until I stop feeling anxious.
Posted by Anemone on July 12, 2011, at 9:46:15
In reply to Re: I thought we were just going to talk, but..., posted by Daisym on July 11, 2011, at 22:59:46
Thank you Daisy for understanding the pressure to please her. I will take your advice to tell her how I feel.
She has been feeling frustrated with not knowing what to do to help me. I feel desperate to make her feel like she IS helping me, so that she won't abandon me.
I don't really care if therapy helps me or not, I just love her and want to keep her in my life.
Posted by Anemone on July 12, 2011, at 9:52:34
In reply to Re: I thought we were just going to talk, but..., posted by pegasus on July 12, 2011, at 8:09:24
Hi Pegasus,
Thank you for sharing what you know about Brainspotting and EMDR. Also thanks for the link.
It's good to know my T is not completely crazy. However it doesn't seem to work on me. Maybe it's like religion, if I believe in it harder, it will work.
I think sitting close to her helped me, but not the Brainspotting exercise itself. I was uncomfortable at first, but smitten in the end. I have never seen her up so close, and so beautiful.
This is the end of the thread.
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