EMDR

I have recently been seeing a practitioner for EMDR sessions. For those of you who don't know, EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) is a recently discovered technique to "re-program" the brain of trauma victims. Originally developed for combat PTSD victims, the benefits of EMDR were soon heard of by victims of abuse as well. I've been having some interesting sessions and wanted to share some of my experiences.
Heads up, this post does have descriptions of my own childhood trauma, and of my negative thoughts and feelings of shame and anger. I tried to tune it down as much as possible but wanted to describe it a bit just so everyone can get an idea of what we're trying to reprogram my brain from. However, if you are highly sensitive to reading about this sort of thing, you suffer from severe anxiety/depression, and/or you suffered severe abuse, shame or trauma yourself, please be aware that there are brief parts of this post that could be a trigger warning.
We started out several weeks ago with a "target" which was my first grade trauma by an emotionally abusive teacher. The treatment started with my thoughts of this teacher-of (POSSIBLE TRIGGER WARNING) another student being forced to write my name on the board twice because I drew a small picture instead of a big one, me being thrown into the corner of the classroom and forcibly turned around to face the wall being told "no one ever wants to see you."
At first, the feeling was of the extreme shame that I have had to live with for all these years-that held me back in life and preventing me from going forward. I also felt physical symptoms such as dizziness and tension in parts of my body. The feeling morphed from shame, to anger, to sadness.
The sessions often start out that way, with the negative thoughts and feelings going through you, then as the session goes on, the feelings become more positive. I begin to start saying things to myself such as "I didn't deserve my abuse" or "There was nothing wrong with me, there was something wrong with that teacher."
I've also had some deep thoughts and visions during my sessions. One time I had an image of myself in an EMT uniform (interesting because I am planning on taking Columbus State's EMT course in the near future) standing in front of that teacher, telling her, "You can no longer hurt me." Another time-this was interesting-I had a vision of a huge shadow creature coming toward me. I felt that it was the personification of Evil-but for some reason as it approached, I got the feeling that it was actually AFRAID of me! (My mother has actually described that teacher as "evil.")
I actually have had some anger and anxiety between sessions, due to some of the negative memories coming up. However, I have been told that that is to be expected-you can expect to feel a bit more "raw" while in the process of reprogramming your brain, due to the fact that it can and does bring negative memories up to the surface. Yoga, meditation, and physical exercise helps. 
Today's session was probably the most positive one yet. I still had stressful and negative thoughts, but I was able to focus my mind to more uplifting thoughts-more so than in the first several sessions. I actually walked out of there today feeling "empowered." My practitioner said that this is an extremely good sign. She also says that as the sessions progress and the traumatic memories begin to be cleared away, the feeling of euphoria can take place. I did have some euphoric feelings while driving home! So I can imagine that this is a very positive sign.
I also did have a vision as well that was very uplifting and empowering. I had the vision of a large, beautiful raven in my mind's eye-then I saw myself standing on the banks of the Shannon River-very close to where my great-grandmother was born. I then saw the raven again, and this time it transformed into the goddess Morrigan-a beautiful woman with long black hair, pale skin and beautiful green eyes, wearing a long black dress. She hugged me, and the hug sent a feeling of power and strength through me. I reported this to my practitioner, and she said "Hold onto that feeling!" That beautiful experience truly made my day.
Overall, while it's taken some time (not too surprising since the trauma has been ingrained in me for so long) I do believe that EMDR is slowly but surely starting to work for me, and I highly recommend that all trauma/PTSD victims consider it. I've heard some really great success stories from people who have insisted that "EMDR transformed my life!" and I'm hoping that it will do the same for me!