Three months ago, I started therapy to finally deal with my fearful avoidant attachment style (leaning dismissive) and CPTSD caused by traumatic childhood and adolescence (all kinds of abuse, severe neglect, then abandonment).
my therapist specialises in schema, IFS, EMDR. I have sessions weekly but considering having them twice a week.
I mentioned my attachment style and asked her to go very slow from the get go. she is genuinely amazing and so far, we managed to establish a great relationship. I am able to be really vulnerable with her and she is the first therapist who seems empathetic and is difficult to overwhelm with my feelings or traumas. I feel like I can trust her, which was my main concern going into therapy.
the problem is, everytime I share an event that is
upsetting and she asks me where I can feel it in my body, or when was the first time I felt that shame, I get the tingles in my feet and then completely freeze because I cannot run. it’s been months and I feel like we just cannot get there, doesn’t matter how hard I try. we end up doing grounding exercises and then change the subject. this can happen five times in each session and is really exhausting.
I just feel really discouraged and feel jealous of people who went to therapy and were able to work through their attachment wounds in a year. I feel like I haven’t even started working on them, and like I might never be able to get there. is this normal? does it get better? do I need to push myself to talk while I am frozen, even though I literally cannot speak?
I also tried EFT tapping and it felt amazing at first. I started processing some recent events, I was exhausted after and ended up having long naps, but then the next day I felt like those recent events didn’t have much emotional weight. it felt amazing. then after a week of practicing every day, I started getting flashbacks of traumatic events that I pushed away 25 years ago, I am not even sure if these are false memories but everything indicates these are flashbacks. I was reading a book and then similar trauma was mentioned, and I got a full blown panic attack. I have been severely depressed since.
I didn’t connect the dots but I did speak to my therapist about trying EFT. she panicked and advised to stop immediately, as in my state and with my ‚emotional inhibition schema’ and strong freeze response it can trigger repressed memories and lead to depressive episodes. apparently, when we tap, we open neurological pathways and open our brain into processing the deepest wounds where we might not be ready, without even knowing. even if we use eft for processing non-traumatic recent events. so apparently, the eft tapping method which fearful avoidants swear by, is not for me either.
looking for some advice and encouragement. will I ever be able to work through my feelings without freezing and wanting to run? do I push myself while in the freeze? do I need to take longer to establish the relationship first?