(941) 462-4807 | 8470 Enterprise Circle, Suite 300, Lakewood Ranch, FL 34202

Meg Young

My WordPress Blog

  • Meg Young
  • Home
  • Specialties
    • Therapy for First Responders
    • Therapy for Therapists, Social Workers, Counselors
    • Therapy for Medical Professionals and Veterinarians
    • Therapy for Probation, Parole, and Corrections Officers
  • Services
    • Therapy for Anxiety
    • Therapy for PTSD
    • EMDR
    • Online Therapy
    • Group Therapy
    • EMDR Certification and Independent Licensure
    • Professional and Life Coaching
  • Get Started
    • Appointment Request
    • Rates & Insurance
    • Client Portal
    • Make A Payment
    • FAQs
    • Privacy Policy
  • Resources
    • Yoga for Trauma Recovery
    • Relaxation
    • Community Events
    • Free opt-ins
  • Blog
  • Workshops
    • Compassion Fatigue and Burnout
  • Podcast
  • About
  • Contact

February 15, 2017 by Meg Young Leave a Comment

What is the purpose to intrusive thoughts?!

Last week we discussed coping skills for intrusive thoughts, especially when you are cooped up inside for any reason. What makes intrusive thoughts so horrible is literally their intrusiveness. They come up unwanted and unbidden. No matter what you try, intrusive thoughts seem to never stop or go away. I hear it so frequently “I can’t stop these thoughts.” Or “I’m doing things I enjoy and all of a sudden these thoughts come up.” It is so draining and so frustrating. For many people it makes day to day activities difficult. How do you conquer these thoughts when they just don’t seem to stop?

Another frequent complaint I hear is “people tell me I should be over this by now.” Or “I should be over this by now.” The first question I always ask is why? Why should you “be over it” even if it is many decades later? The second question I ask is would you tell your best friend, child, or someone else very close to you to “get over it” if they were going through this? Sometimes I get a “yes” to this second question because it is hard for loved ones to see someone they live in agony. Often people don’t know what to say.

What if intrusive thoughts had a purpose? Often people handle things easier if there is a purpose to it. What about you? If you understood somethings purpose, does it seem easier to deal with? Well, intrusive thoughts actually do have a purpose…and not just to frustrate or upset you. Have you ever obsessively thought about something small you did that you regretted? You ruminated over it and what you could have done differently for awhile. Eventually the obsessive thoughts ended; you realized there is nothing you can do about it now and let it go.

Intrusive thoughts are the brain trying to make sense of an event. It does this by bringing up parts of the event it hasn’t made sense of in an effort to file it in the proper place. It’s like holding a book and not being able to figure out where to put it on the shelf. It isn’t quite a mystery…not quite a drama. You end up putting it down with the mysteries, but it seems misplaced; it doesn’t seem to quite fit there. You keep looking at it until you pick it back up and put it with the dramas. However that also looks misplaced. The cycle continues until the book (or memory) is placed in the right place. The brain does not give up trying to file it away correctly.

Understanding the purpose doesn’t make the thoughts stop, though. Even with therapy, the thoughts haven’t seemed to stop completely. The only thing that will stop traumatic intrusive thoughts is the brain filing the event in the right place. The brain is very complicated, making this no easy task. Complicating matters more is the body also stores memories. Have you ever noticed that when someone vomits, you can taste it? Or your own stomach flops? Or you look at someone’s injury and feel it in your own body? The body holds memories of events being brought up again in the present causing current symptoms. There is quite a bit of current research regarding the importance of healing both the brain and the body memories in order to help the brain file events properly. That being said, intrusive thoughts can be significantly minimized without working on body memories. If you’ve had a lot of therapy and still having intrusive thoughts, talk with your therapist about techniques that will heal body memories.

There are some very awesome techniques including EMDR (Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing), ART (Accelerated resolution therapy), and body-centered psychotherapy (or somatic psychotherapy) among others, that I may not be aware of. It is very important to work with someone fully trained in these modalities instead of someone who is partially trained. Practitioners of EMDR for example can start using EMDR after the first part of training, but aren’t fully trained until they have completed the full basic training, or level 2 training.

If you aren’t sure where to find a therapist trained in one of these techniques, there are many websites that can help you find someone, or feel free to call or email me. I will help you find someone in your area, even if you aren’t in CT or FL. 860-501-9767; 941-462-4807 or megberrylcsw@fastmail.com.

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Meg Young



(941) 462-4807
meg@megyounglcsw.com
Fax: (941) 348-1334

8470 Enterprise Circle, Suite 300
Lakewood Ranch, FL 34202

Contact

Recent Posts

  • From Exposure to Integration: How Trauma Doesn’t Have to Define You (Even When It Isn’t Yours) June 30, 2025
  • Nurturing Positive Relationships With Coworkers May 20, 2025
  • Mental Health Care for The Career Woman May 13, 2025

Office Hours


Tuesday: 8:00a-6:00p online only
Wednesday: 9:00a-1:30p in person; 2:30p-5:00p online only
Thursday: 8:00a-6:00p in person
Friday: 8:00a-10:00a online only; 11:00a-5:00p in person
Request an appointment
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn

Find My Office

Contact Information

8470 Enterprise Circle, Suite 300
Lakewood Ranch, FL 34202

(941) 462-4807
Fax: (941) 348-1334




See my Privacy Statement
Terms of Service
Good Faith Estimate

A Therapist Website by Brighter Vision | Privacy Policy

Office Space for Rent in Lakewood Ranch!
Fully Furnished • Private • Professional

Looking for a quiet, beautiful space to see clients or do your best work?

Now available! A fully furnished office for rent right off the highway on University Parkway in Lakewood Ranch – easy to access, with ample well-lit parking.

Perfect for:
– Therapists just starting out
– Wellness professionals growing their practice
– Coaches, consultants, or anyone ready to work in peace

Rent by the hour, day, or month; flexible options that grow with your goals.

Book a tour today and see if this peaceful, professional space is the right fit for your next chapter.

Contact Meg: 941-462-4807