I live with lupus. I have for most of my adult life. I also work with clients who live with chronic and invisible illness — and I've been doing this long enough to notice how different EMDR looks with this population compared to what's typically taught in basic training.

I want to talk about some of those differences.

The window of tolerance is already working harder

Most EMDR clinicians know the Window of Tolerance diagram. Three zones — hyperarousal, the window, hypoarousal — drawn on a whiteboard or pulled up on a tablet during Phase 2. We explain fight or flight. We explain freeze. We explain that the window is where we're trying to work.

And then we move on.

What I want to talk about is what happens after the diagram.