Nervous Riders Cure!!!!!

[IrisSilverMoon]

ok, last month I got a great article out of my practical horseman about a therapy for people who are nervous riders. Its called EMDR (eye movement desensitization and Reprocessing), and was developed in 1987 by Dr. Francine Shapiro. She had the idea that nerves about riding (or other things) are caused by a frightening event that get stored in the brain before it has a chance to fully be processed along with whatever emotions, and sensations came with it. So, the short of that matter is that something scary happens, and you are busy dealing with it, so your brain doesnt' really process the whole thing, you keep those fears you had during the scary event. What EMDR does is help your brain process the events without the scary feelings so you no longer associate riding and nerves together. You can even use this just to gain confidence and enhance your performance! it doesn't need to be specific to nerves...:)

Basically what came from this is when you go in to see an EMDR certified therapist they will ask you about your past and try to develope some coping techniques and ways to reduce your anxiety and find a safe place, and then they will talk you through the scary event while applying bilateral stimulation (you hear beeping and watch a dot pass across a screen and hold onto these paddle things).

In any case that's the basic gist of it. The great thing about this is that they have therapists all over the world certified for this and not just the US. There is also a website for more information and that can give you certified therapists in your area...:)

www.emdr.com

I myself am going to get qualified to use this therapy when I graduate...:D

[Waikato Valuta]

what are you graduating from???

Sounds good, but have you seen it work? I personally found talking over my scary event didn't help but maybe with other stimuli it would.

The thing that helped me was being forced into a situation where I had to trust my horse. Not that that would be a particually safe thing to do but it worked wonders for me. :D

I migth dable in this when I get my psychology degree.

[IrisSilverMoon]

I'll be graduating from the UW with a degree in psychology and then i'll most likely be going elsewhere for a masters or PhD in cognitive behavioral therapy.

I personally haven't seen it work, but the article gave the testimonials of a few of this woman's patients including herself. It was by Dr. Margot Nancey, in the article she said she had a really bad fall and this therapy helped her get back to her old level as a rider, although it varies, she said it took 8 sessions for her to get over her fear, one of her patients took six sessions.

While you do talk over your experience first with a therapist, you are going to talk about it again using bilateral stimulation, you go through every part of your experience including how you felt.

I forgot to mention it earlier, but there is over a decade of research backing this up including Brain scan studies that have shown a change in the brain after EMDR treatment.

[Scarlett 001]

That is indeed interesting. What horse magazine did you say the article was in? I would like to read it.

I will read the web site tomorrow and then get back to you with any questions that arise (even if you aren't certified yet IrisSilverMoon, you can be our local resource person on this therapy!). I don't think I have the brain power at this late hour to read about high-level cognitive therapy so that is why I will wait until tomorrow to read it - that way I can do the web site justice - my brain has reached its limit for the day (crazy day at work).

Hey, once you get your MSc/PhD, then you can provide therapy for the multitude of nervous or insecure or otherwise troubled riders that are hanging out on NR! :) Just think how confident and well-adjusted we would all be!!!

p.s. You are lucky to be at UW. I spent a summer there a few years ago (in 2000) as I was doing some research at the university. The flowers across the campus in summer are just stunning. And the many nearby coffee shops were a real treat! Nice place to do your degree.

[IrisSilverMoon]

It was in Practical Horseman a US magazine, i'm not sure where else you can get it. maybe look around online? :)

I can certainly try to answer questions...:p I have spent lots of time reading up on therapy stuff, and i have lots of books!

the UW is great! i'm just sorry it doesn't offer programs for what i want ot be trained in! i would stay there forever! LOL...its one of the most beautiful areas in Seattle I think...:)

[kedwards]

Although it is a much hyped and marketed "product", EMDR has been the object of much less scientific scrutiny and development, in the form of peer reviewed research, than hypnosis, exposure, or standard cognitive behavioral techniques.

[IrisSilverMoon]

yes, I agree...I had never heard of the treatment before the article though, but I would be interested in some scientific articles, ones detailing experimentation, even though the woman who wrote the article is a psychologist, a journal article would be a different view.

I am not sure though kedwards, of the newness of this compared with other forms of treatment though, like hypnosis, exposure and other cognitive behavioral techniques. Do you know? personally I like exposure and coping strategies best, but this is a different option...:) it still combines coping which is nice as well.

[Waikato Valuta]

I just spoke to my dad who is a Dr of Psychology. He is trained in EMDR. He says it can work and he has had sucsess with many people however some poeple are not receptive to it. Maily people who don't like to lose controle.

LOL i didn't even know he was trained it untill i told him about this post. :D

[kedwards]

There are many techniques that are very successful for treating anxiety. I've never trained on this one because it is packaged and marketed as a name-brand, so to speak, rather than detailed adequately in scientific journals to allow replication by non-invested peers. It's just a professional/scientific bias of mine. I'm rather conservative in my own approach.

Still, as with many of these sorts of things, if it works for you, go for it!

[Stella2]

There is a significant and growing body of literature demonstrating the efficacy EMDR, mostly concerning trauma based anxiety disorders. There are many large scale, well controlled studies, have a look in the clinical psychology literature. It is the training of therapists that is restricted to the EMDR Association. Its necassary to hold a professional qualification in a specific recognised field of mental health in order to be eligable for the training.

[kedwards]

I would certainly be interested in any references for peer-reviewed studies comparing EMDR to traditional extinction techniques for dealing with fear of riding. While it's not a topic that comes up in my professional practice, it's personally interesting.

[Stella2]

Kedwards - I'm away from the office until end of March, but I'd be happy to pm you with a few references after that :)

[Stella2]

Although, I doubt there are any specific to fear of riding at this stage. As I said above the heavily researched area is in trauma based anxiety disorders usually as a reslt of accidents, assaults or abuse.

[IrisSilverMoon]

you can always try to get ahold of Dr. Margot Nancey the writer of the Practical Horseman article to see if she has written any journal articles on riding and EMDR, the article didn't say whether she'd done any studies on it or not though, her phone number was in the article, heh. But I will check the UW database for articles...:)

Waikato-I'd imagine like anything in psychology it doesn't work with people 100% of the time. That's neat that he's trained in it though! what a surprise, hehe.