Thanks Antoinette, I have found a counsellor from the list whom I believe might be able to relate and will arrange for a consultation soon.
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Hi @Notearsformula,
I came across your post thanks to @Jaws highlighting it for someone else. If it’s okay, I’d like to offer a perspective for you to consider. From reading the thread, it seems that much of the therapeutic work you’ve done has been in the realm of talk therapy.
Well done on showing up for yourself and being proactive for your wellbeing. 
Talk therapy is excellent for feeling understood and learning new skills. However, when a traumatic experience occurs, the body often stores this hurt as a way of remembering and avoiding similar pain in the future. It’s like a trauma capsule gets created in the brain, usually in the midbrain where our emotional regulation resides.
Talk therapy primarily engages the prefrontal cortex and doesn’t always reach the midbrain. So, even though we might understand things cognitively, our bodies can still feel differently.
In such cases, a brain-body therapeutic approach might be beneficial. Besides EMDR, there’s another method called Brainspotting. This technique uses eye positions to help the body release stored trauma. It doesn’t involve much talking during the processing part of the therapy. I experienced a traumatic event some time ago, and despite being a skilled professional, no amount of cognitive reframing helped me release the tension in my body. However, after just two Brainspotting sessions, I felt a significant release of the stored trauma and was able to return back to thriving again.
You might find it helpful to learn more about how the body stores trauma by reading “The Body Keeps the Score,” which is available for free on the NLB app. Additionally, looking into somatic therapy could be beneficial. Some people find it helpful to reach out to overseas therapists who are more specialised and trained in brain-body-based approaches to assist in their healing journey. Brainspotting is one such modality that can be effectively conducted online.
I hope this perspective helps, and I wish you all the best on your journey.
Take care!
Kind regards,
CoolBreeze =)
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