EMDR is snake oil. 1) it’s scant exposure therapy with a magic reset code. (Please explain how we evolved a flashing light reboot.) 2) there’s no way to test it because you can’t double-blind it. 3) You can do population studies, and in 30 years? Nothing evidence-based. 1/6
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People who say it worked for them clicked with their therapist. And benefited from ALL of the advances we’ve made in trauma therapy since 2001. Most people don’t do EMDR first. They spend time with a different therapist learning how to therapy. How to drop defensiveness. 2/6
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They change therapists when they don’t feel they’ve made progress / get bored / get cocky / insurance. EMDR sounds weirdly high tech, which attracts USians like catnip. The combo of the passage of time, a new therapist & knowing how to therapy triggers feelings of growth. 3/6
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Trauma teaches us many defensive postures, which become dysfunctional behavior. And EMDR seems to attract people who don’t like or aren’t ready to do the homework of real behavioral change. Ethical cognitive therapy is HARD. It’s introspective, into our imperfect selves. 4/6
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EMDR simply cannot fix dysfunctional interpersonal behavior, because that’s a practice of conscious behavior. Nor does it improve communication strategies. When I was training? I wanted it to work so badly (So did the VA). It doesn’t. At best, it’s a maintenance cul-de-sac. 5/6
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Therapy is hard — it’s like physical therapy that way. You have to build the muscle to support the tendons & ligaments, you can’t just steroid it away. (Not that we don’t try.) There are no shortcuts into being a pro-social person. You just have to do the work. 6/6
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Tomorrow I’ll lose more followers by insulting the alkaline diet. Which is a great metaphor for EMDR. For people who can eat mostly legumes & vegetables, the alkaline diet is healthy, & will likely make you feel better than quick food. But it’s not the baking soda water. ...
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It’s the feeling of control, and the variety of nutrients, maybe more stable blood sugar, fiber, and simply more water, so hydration. And optimism — this time it will work! Changing our environment does make us feel better. For a while. And then we revert to mean. ...
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It’s not a coincidence that humans have a lot of dysfunctional behaviors around control — either too much or not enough. And that we trick ourselves into believing that willpower is all we need. Because we do get a high from novelty. But we also crash when the novelty fades.
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Replying to @CZEdwards
*shrug* Okay but the thing about dieting is that while "fad diets" and "gimmick diets" obviously don't work, the thing they tell you to do instead -- "make sensible, long-term changes to your eating habits" -- also doesn't work, empirically Dieting in general doesn't work
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Which is pretty similar to the feelings I have about therapy honestly
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