Reply To: CBT for ADHD?

[dizzytuber]

Well you could use Google to look up any website I would direct you to it.  I was first made aware of it in 1998, by a friend who’s a Vietnam vet, and went through this therapy for his PTSD.   At that time, I wasn’t in the “market” so to speak, to be treated or realized I was suffering from PTSD.

In 2000, the company I worked for, had a program called EAP (Employee Assistance Program) where you’re allowed 3 free visits, for each issue, with a counselor.  After that, you and your insurance paid for the rest of the visits.

After 2 sessions to fully explain what’s going on, my feelings, and so forth, I had originally gone in for anger management and he told me I was exhibiting signs of PTSD, Anxiety, and Depression.  He recommended some drugs, but I sternly said no.  It was then he brought up EMDR, gave me some literature about it, and a website to visit.

During my third week, I gave it a shot.  Rather than describe what the websites will tell you about EMDR, I’ll go down memory lane and tell a short story about my experience with it.

First he had me hold a plastic fob in each hand, that had a wire from each one to a box he held.  He told me to close my eyes, and begin talking about an issue I spoke about before in our earlier sessions.  Then he asked, how it made me feel, and then he asked how I would like to feel.  Then he said to concentrate on a ball of any color I choose, slowly sinking below the water, as he turned on the fobs, and the pulsed alternately.  In other words, the left fob would buzz, then the right one, then the left one, and so on.  The ball was supposed to represent my current feelings, the water was representative of that feeling being absorbed like a water drop into an ocean, and finding equilibrium.

So then I stopped it for a sec, and said this seemed more like hypnotherapy.  I simply didn’t see this working for me, until I got home, and realized if I saw this as a tool, to bring all my focus to start to understand why I was angry, then maybe I could diffuse it.

Then I saw all of the problems as a plant, each has its roots, and realizing where those roots start, you can start to trim them off slowly, one by one, so you understand WHY something or someone is making you angry.  It also helps you quiet your mind just long enough to look before you leap.

It took a year before I saw any real effect.  Surprisingly, my insurance paid for most of the bill, and I was spending 10 bucks a week to get help.  Not bad here in the USA.  After that year, I was dealing with a cancer scare, that turned out to be benign, but it still had me on long term disability from work, for almost 3 months.

I hope this helps, grasshopper.  🙂

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