'RHOBH's Dorit Is Getting This Special Therapy To Cope With Robbery Trauma
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Dorit Kemsley, 45, was robbed at gunpoint in a home invasion last year.
Dorit and her two children were asleep when three men entered their Encino Hills home and police say around $100,000 in valuables were stolen from Dorit's closet.
She is now getting a special therapy to help deal with the trauma. Here's what to know:
Dorit Kemsley from The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills was robbed at gunpoint in October 2021, according to police reports. At 10:50 p.m., three male intruders entered the home while Dorit was asleep, Los Angeles Police told People. Dorit currently lives in Encino Hills, California, with her husband, Paul "PK" Kemsley, and their two children.
“[The burglars] were surprised to see me at home…When they did, they pushed me to the ground. They said, ‘Who else is in the home?’” Dorit told Page Six.
The RHOBH star asked them not to harm her or her children: “There was someone else who said, ‘Just kill her, just kill her already, just kill her,’ and all I could think of [was], ‘I have to save those babies.’ I begged them, I begged for my life, and begged for their life,” she said.
After spending 20 minutes in the house, the burglars left with around $100,000 worth of purses and accessories, Us Weekly reported. Dorit had apparently just returned with her son, Jagger, 5, and daughter, Phoenix, 7, from a family trip to the U.K. Paul hadn't returned yet and was still overseas when the home invasion occurred. No one in the home was harmed, the Los Angeles police department told Us Weekly.
“Had such a lovely time celebrating this beauty @parishilton bridal shower last weekend. Wishing Paris and her new love a lifetime of happiness,” Dorit wrote in an Instagram caption before the robbery. “The night of the shower @paul_kemsley_pk the kids and I boarded a flight to London to celebrate my nephews upcoming wedding. Go to my stories for highlights of the past week.”
The couple originally purchased their 9,000-square-foot home for $6.475 million in 2019, according to Fox News.
In the third part of the RHOBH reunion, Dorit explained to host Andy Cohen all about her closet. Her wardrobe is filled with expensive designer pieces: "I’m really particular," she said. “I want to wear what I want to wear, and it’s just easier, I just think, ‘I’ll buy it.'”
She also mentioned that she personally pays for "every single piece" of clothing and accessories in her closet.
In the latest episode of RHOBH, Dorit shared that she’s undergoing a form of therapy called Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) to try to help with the trauma of the break-in. Here’s what you need to know about this therapy, and why Dorit is doing it.
Why is Dorit getting therapy?
Dorit still needs to heal from the trauma of being held at gunpoint in her home, so her therapist had the RHOBH star mentally revisit different parts of that night, including the moment she was thinking, “I’m not safe,” while lying on the ground at gunpoint.
The therapist explained on the show that people who go through traumatic events "separate it by frames because that is the way the memory is stored early on."
Dorit told her therapist she was most worried about her children’s safety in that moment. "I went from, 'I'm not safe,' to thinking about my kids," she said. “God forbid anything ever happens to them. I can't shake this feeling."
She said she was “so scared, so worried, so afraid, so sad," and feels like she is “very far from where I need to be.” Dorit added, “I feel like I have a lot of work to do."
"When I close my eyes, I can see the headline: 'Mother Found Dead in Her Bedroom and the Kids Were Shot, Found Dead in Their Bed,'" she said while talking to producers. "That thought is going to haunt me for the rest of my life."
What is EMDR therapy?
EDMR is a type of therapy that was designed to treat post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), according to the US Department of Veterans Affairs National Center for PTSD. EDMR aims to help patients process upsetting memories, thoughts, and feelings related to the trauma they experienced.
What are the 8 phases of EMDR?
EMDR therapy utilizes eight distinct phases, according to the American Psychological Association (APA). Those usually include:
Phase 1: History-taking and treatment planning. During this phase, a therapist determines the patient’s triggers and goals for treatment.
Phase 2: Preparation. The therapist explains the treatment process to the patient and practices the eye movement technique.
Phase 3: Assessment. The patient and therapist identify the traumatic memory being targeted.
Phase 4: Desensitization. The patient focuses on the traumatic memory during this phase while practicing the eye movements. They also talk about how they feel afterward.
Phase 5: Installation. The installation phase works to strengthen the preferred reactions to trauma that EMDR can bring out.
Phase 6: Body scan. Patients are asked to observe their physical response to their trauma and the preferred reaction during this phase.
Phase 7: Closure. The therapist provides specific instructions and techniques to work on until the next session.
Phase 8: Re-evaluation. The next therapy session starts with the last phase, to evaluate how the prior session went and how to the patient can improve.
How many sessions does EMDR usually take?
EMDR is usually done once or twice a week for a total of six to 12 sessions, the APA says.
Why is it controversial?
Well, some people consider EMDR a pseudoscience, and say it's not that effective. Research has shown that it is more effective than receiving no treatment, but some critics claim that the rapid eye movements are an unnecessary addition.
What did Dorit say about the therapy?
Dorit didn't say a whole lot about the therapy itself, but she has made it clear that she thinks that it will take her some time to heal from the trauma.
Dorit has talked to her RHOBH co-stars about the incident.
During season 12, Dorit explains what happened to her co-stars. Kyle Richards is especially upset by the "terrifying" story, telling Sutton Stracke: "[Dorit was] begging for her life," she says, per People. "I was on the phone with [her husband] PK, who was bawling."
Sutton responds by saying she's had a difficult day, too, running into some issues with her business. When Kyle questions whether Sutton's situation can really be compared to Dorit's, Sutton says, "I mean, I wasn't held at gunpoint. I'm sorry."
"You know, it's been a weird day, a weird morning," she continues. "It's like out of a movie."
In a confessional scene, Kyle is shocked. "What is wrong with you?" she asks. "Are you that wrapped up in yourself that you are not grasping what just happened to our friend?"
Sutton has since clarified what she meant by the comment: “I had had a very strange morning and day and I didn’t know a lot about what was going on, so I didn’t know the severity,” she told Us Weekly. “I didn’t really quite understand. And my mindset wasn’t there, so I was being insensitive.”
“I think had I been with Dorit, it would’ve been a different situation and I’m sorry that that didn’t happen," she added. "I just feel really terrible about the whole thing and that feelings get hurt.”
You Might Also Like
