After the prep session, I worked on my coping skills to prepare for the first session of EMDR. I felt like I was in a rush for the first few days after, I did eventually feel like myself again. I really hated the fall in energy, but I knew that would happen given my health issues. The coping skills were handy heading into session one.           

I am not going to lie, after the prep session I was terrified of what a real session was going to be like. After the energy fall, I was a nervous wreck all over again. I think I was more anxious over my first EMDR session than I was over going back to therapy. To be honest the night before my first appointment with this therapist, I couldn’t sleep, and my stomach was in knots. Now take that and multiply it by a thousand and that is exactly how I felt the night before.           

I recommend having a journal or notebook, that you can write in between therapy sessions. Those negative emotions you feel can be a jumping-off point for your EMDR sessions which is helpful if you have compounded trauma in your life. I know for me it was difficult to think of one trauma that outweighed the other. Using a notebook helped me sort through all the negative thoughts and emotions that are associated with my trauma. This was helpful because I was able to rank those negative emotions by which one caused the most emotional pain for me.

I can’t wait to update you on session one and how I feel afterward. Have any of you done EMDR? What was your experience like?