Presentation of the patient:
The patient was in cognitive-behavioral treatment when she came to the clinic. She complained about something holding her back. She was very shy and began to loosen up, when she joined a pentecostal church. The legalistic doctrine of her church kept her from reunions with her school colleges and family members, because she thought they were sinful. After one year of dating the church expected her to marry to prevent sin. Her sexuality transformed into a burden after a traumatic honeymoon. Her husband had not cut the umbilical bond with his mother, yet, causing nasty conflicts between the patient and her mother-in-law. When the patient started treatment with EMDR-J, an abuse memory with lasting consequences came up. The patient's treatment was very intense and complex. The author chose several sessions of different periods in order to give an insight in the patient's treatment.
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Illustrative photograph by Jörg Garbers
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Fifth session
The patient goes back to the neighbor triangle. She barely visualizes the house of her neighbor's daughter who spoke ill of her. She embarks in a blue car. They entered her land with laughter and insincerity. In front of the house next door parks a black car. Everything turns black. There's a swirl in the middle of the street. The ground swallows the neighbor's house and his daughter. She goes to the land straight ahead. The mud reaches the street. She wants to break down the wall with a hammer. It doesn't break easily. She looses her strength and goes to the middle and summons a higher force. Lightning approaches, but she doesn't want destruction. This neighbor is not her enemy. Lightning strikes sideways. She is writing bible citations on the wall. She doesn't want to be selfish, but she wants to keep an eye on the neighbors. They can't be trusted. She visualizes the triangle and a strong chain that needs to be broken. The chains are broken. She visualizes a flower on the parking lot wall. They are cemetery flowers.They're not beautiful and smell bad. Many people smell their scent. Now she visualizes orange-red flowers without a scent on only one side of the road.
