What's your experience with EMDR?

I had EMDR a few years ago before realising I was autistic - It did work for me for the few specific memories I which seemed to crop up often. For me I was given two vibrating devices to hold, one in each hand - I was worried the whole time I must be doing something wrong because it was so outside of the normal therapies I was used to having, but the therapist will be talking you through everything as you do it.
What I would say is your memories have to be quite specific of what you want to go through which I didn't realise, as the therapist will ask you to keep on thinking about it and running through very specifically while the devices alternate (though I think some services use lights or sound), and my sessions ended (mutually agreed) because I did not have any more specific memories I could run through in detail.

I wasn't expecting it to work, but I did find that my memories of events were not triggered in the way the used to be, what I think the reasoning is, is that when I was having those memories before, my brain would jump to the worst bit of it, but going through that memory in EMDR you have to go through it in detail, thinking of everything you can remember including what happened after (the fact that the event ended and you survived) - and this is the bit your brain needs to process to stop the memories reoccurring as if it is still happening.

It won't work for everything, for me the long term abuse and neglect I had still affects how I think, but not having the very vivid and intense flashbacks triggered has improved my quality of life.

If you have any questions let me know :) 

I had EMDR a few years ago before realising I was autistic - It did work for me for the few specific memories I which seemed to crop up often. For me I was given two vibrating devices to hold, one in each hand - I was worried the whole time I must be doing something wrong because it was so outside of the normal therapies I was used to having, but the therapist will be talking you through everything as you do it.
What I would say is your memories have to be quite specific of what you want to go through which I didn't realise, as the therapist will ask you to keep on thinking about it and running through very specifically while the devices alternate (though I think some services use lights or sound), and my sessions ended (mutually agreed) because I did not have any more specific memories I could run through in detail.

I wasn't expecting it to work, but I did find that my memories of events were not triggered in the way the used to be, what I think the reasoning is, is that when I was having those memories before, my brain would jump to the worst bit of it, but going through that memory in EMDR you have to go through it in detail, thinking of everything you can remember including what happened after (the fact that the event ended and you survived) - and this is the bit your brain needs to process to stop the memories reoccurring as if it is still happening.

It won't work for everything, for me the long term abuse and neglect I had still affects how I think, but not having the very vivid and intense flashbacks triggered has improved my quality of life.

If you have any questions let me know :)