u/EndFull2933

I just had a session where we were targeting feelings of abandonment and emotional neglect in childhood, and not a particular memory. During, I started seeing images of a dog my family had until I was 3, when he suddenly passed away.

My family would tell me stories about him and how he was always by my side, and how much I loved him.

I started balling my eyes out, grieving for him, and remembering how much I loved him. It feels so weird because I have no memory of him apart from stories and pictures, but my body FEELS the loss was real. After, I called my parents asking about our dog, and I was getting choked up.

I got off the phone and sobbed even more, missing him. In IFS + EMDR I've been learning how to process grief that's been stuck in me for a long time (I guess I learned maladaptive coping skills when I was younger). So I could tell this grief felt emotionally real.

I know that EMDR can help you process somatic memories, but it's such a weird feeling and a part of me wants to know "Was my dog an important part of my life?"

I often find that when I'm going through an EMDR hangover of a pretty strong foundational belief, different memories and more recent triggers start popping up in my head. And I don't understand why.

I get that hangovers mean you're processing the emotions of the target memory, but when other stuff comes up, does that mean we're processing the emotions of those too?

ie the focus being feelings of betrayal, and remembering other related memories both recent and from earlier in life. It wasn't the target memory I was working on, but those other memories are coming up in my thoughts and I'm feeling the "betrayal" from those other memories