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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Sixth session
The patient visualizes the parking lot shed and the street as carpet wrinkles. The wall is covered with flowers in unlively colours. She sees mountains and a wrinkled street. A lady sits on the wall dressed in a white dress and a black hat with yellow and pink flowers. A parade passes by. She visualizes a bordeaux-red house on the main street with white doors and windows. There’re yellow flowers and the image of a passion fruit. In the background stands a child with someone. The patient visualizes an open passion fruit showing her seeds. A grey fluid is dropping. There’s a shadow of a child and an adult. The grey goop is going somewhere. The black hat with the flowers is covering the whole person. The goop is covering the hat, falls into water and melts. There’s a yellow, black and grey shape. The grey vanishes. Black and yellow stripes remain. She expected a party, music and disco lights. Suddenly there’s a black ball and the yellow vanishes. The black ends. The flower hat reappears, the palm tree, the bordeaux house and she sees herself eating popcorn in a cinema seat. She leaves the cinema and goes to the shops. The scenery is white and pink. There’s a flower wallpaper and the colour green is filling the moment.
