Reflections of a Therapist

EMDR day 4. Each day has revealed something. Today, day four confirmed that EMDR training is intense.  Any training is a lot but 4 days of EMDR is a whole new level. EMDR stands for Eye-Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing and is used to process trauma.  So essentially, this means I have spent the last four days talking about, hearing, and processing trauma. I will spare any readers the details. Needless to say by 5pm today I was more than ready for a run and some outside time.  Thankfully, a fellow trainee asked me yesterday “what are you doing for fun after the training?” This reminded me I did in fact need to have some fun and not just continue working after the training. He also told me about a super close by trail and hours later that I was on the start of that trail.  At the start I checked in with myself as I often do and realized my fatigue level and also the readiness I had to move. On a deeper level though I realized the weariness I was carrying from t...

Months ago some friends mentioned their desire to go hiking and I personally saw it as a great opportunity to take a weekend off and be out in nature. A bonus for me was the idea of being able to “teach” others what I know related to overnight camping. I thought back to my own first night out and how little I knew so wanted to gift others with some basic knowledge. While I certainly would not consider myself an expert I very much remembered my own experience with blisters and then my discovery of moleskin and double-liner socks.   Going into the trip, I had little worry. Every person was extremely fit and capable. The only worry really within my mind at the start was this question of how was I going to turn OFF being therapist and just show up. To clarify, I only managed the above partially (shocker). Now as I continue to reflect days later because that is what therapists do, I realize even more about the weekend.   There is recognition of how much I truly learned. Super impor...