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For anyone out there who has done this....what did you think? Did it work? What exactly do they do anyway?

For me, it was awesome!!

My biggest anxiety came from Mr Lucky's confession, six months later I wasn't able to cope and would literally throw myself into an anxiety attack recalling verbatim what he confessed.

I believe there are several methods of approach to EMDR? Mine was this ticking sound through headphones, going from ear to ear, we'd stop and talk about things, I'd put the headphones back on....

At the time I was pissed off purple that I was such a mess I had to do it at all, the anger and resentment kind of countered the progress.

Looking back - 7 years ago - I wish I could take it up again for other issues.

Just try it, not everything is for everyone.

My husband had EMDR therapy for traumatic childhood issues that have haunted his whole life. The result was nothing short of amazing. Nightmares (recurrent ones) completely disappeared, and he is able to talk about the traumatic events with a lot more ease and calmness.

He didn't have the headphones like Lucky's therapist used, his therapist uses her finger in sidewards swaying motion very close to his eyes. I believe some use headphones, and some use finger motions in front of the face and some use taps on the hand.

I was very worried that during the therapy he would go through a bad phase as old memories were being stirred. This never happened. I (and he) have only good and positve things to say about EMDR. IT has had zero downsides, but very many, very postive effects.

Like others have said, EMDR was amazing for me. It allowed me to deal with the abuse I received from a teacher. That tone of voice that used to throw me into a tailspin? No more.

My therapist used a light that went from side to side.

Put me down as an EMDR success also. I think it has something to do with shifting your attention to physical sensation back and forth between right and left sides while recalling in detail whatever it is you're trying to process. No idea why it works, but it did for me.

I can think about the traumatic incident now without that flash of physical revulsion I used to feel every time I even heard a word that reminded me of it. The best way I can describe it is the memories went from hot to cold.

My therapist used little vibrating egg shaped devices that I held in each hand. The vibrating sensation just switched back and forth. I got to set the pace and intensity of the vibrations. We also did a lot of prep work, for example determining a safe mental space for me to retreat to if things got too intense.

I have had a few sessions of this very recently. I am quite a skeptic, but I was amazed as well. My IC used the finger sway deal described above. At first I kept getting these peripheral memories of a time in my childhood that was pretty difficult. Then all of the sudden I was flooded with a very concrete vision/memory which we are currently working on (slowly.) It was enough to make me cry in front of my IC (not something I really do...ever) and ask him to stop. I don't know where it will lead, but I know it brought out emotions that I have stuffed for quite a while. Strange dreams followed, but I also feel like we are now getting somewhere.

Prep work helped with me too. He asked me to imagine a place where I could temporarily store the difficult memories if things got overwhelming, and I pictured the community chest from Monopoly for some reason.

Overall it has been a difficult and rewarding experience. I would recommend.