Dongles

In the “Fish Tank” episode, the Husband shared about his experience with EMDR. He talked about having headphones he listens to, and small paddles or “dongles” that he holds one of in each hand. He said that he hears beeps and feels vibrations on alternating sides as part of the experience. He talked about the family therapist having a box where she could adjust the speed or other settings of those beeps and vibrations as needed.

In response to this episode, a friend shared a picture of one kind of these devices, though there are different kinds and different ways of doing EMDR with the different tools. This is just one example, and very similar to what the husband was describing.

While he found it particularly useful for his depression, the device itself may be triggering to some survivors of certain kinds of organized or ritual abuse. Some clinicians use a light bar of colored lights instead of this kind of device, which may be triggering to survivors of pornography or traffficking type settings. In addition, EMDR does not help everyone with everything, and we have been told by many survivors and clinicians alike that timing and containment of some sort is critical to a positive experience with EMDR.

That said, many survivors who have used EMDR in safe ways with good clinicians when they are ready for it as an intervention, describe very positive experiences and good results.

This podcast episode was not about EMDR or when to use it or who should or not, but simply about the husband’s experience of it while being treated for depression. The picture is provided simply for those who wanted to see to be able to understand what he was talking about with the “dongles”.

You can listen to other episodes about EMDR specifically to learn more about it, or check out their website HERE.