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EMDR Trauma Retreat: Day 1

 I arrived in Denver, CO last night after a wonderful delayed flight and a nice wait on the tarmac. 

I eventually collected my bag and met my ride from 11th Hour Trauma Retreat for a ride to the hotel. Thankfully, there were no more delays. Checking into the hotel was easy-peasy. My hotel room came with a little kitchen area, which came in handy because all the restaurants were already closed by the time I arrived. The front desk sold a small collection of frozen dinners, ice cream and sodas - so I was all set. I unpacked and collapsed into bed. 

The hotel provides breakfast every morning, which is a great bonus! My therapist picked me up from the hotel at 8am and we were off for a full day of therapy fun. Haha! 

We started the morning off with lots of paperwork, which included different assessments for depression, anxiety, and other things. We talked about the basics of EMDR and how talk therapy works vs EMDR and why they are both important in healing. We took breaks and stopped for lunch. We got to know each other. Very important things! 

We talked through the results from a Post-Traumatic Stress Index assessment that I had done prior to coming to the retreat. We worked on my trauma timeline. Thankfully my therapist led the discussion and asked questions to help me work through the timeline because on my own, I've worked really hard to bury memories. She's skilled at being able to dig into the past. My body and the EMDR will do the rest as we do the work this week and next. 

We created resources such as a container to store and compartmentalize these unsettling memories at the end of each day, a happy place for me to visualize when I need to relax, a nurturer figure ( I chose Mufusa), a protector figure ( I chose my poodle, Cloudy), and a wisdom figure ( I chose Walt Disney). 

I came back to my hotel room, ordered some groceries (Thank you DoorDash!) and took a nap. I decided I wasn't up for going out and ordered dinner as well and decided to blog while waiting for it to arrive. I anticipate an early bedtime after working on a little bit of homework that I still need to accomplish, but that can wait until after dinner. Until tomorrow!


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Comments

  1. Monica SchneckAugust 9, 2021 at 5:38 PM

    Thank you for sharing. You’ve been on my mind most of the day. My thoughts and prayers are with you on this journey.

    ReplyDelete
  2. UnknownAugust 9, 2021 at 8:17 PM

    I am grateful to be able to read your journey. While my loss was not a husband or child (a niece, ) my daughter suffered because she survived that accident. Reading your post has made me wonder if this didn't contribute to her diagnosed PTSD. I look forward to hearing how you are doing through all of this
    Sending prayers your way

    ReplyDelete

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