Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)
What is EMDR?
It is important to note that consultation with an EMDR-trained therapist is the best way to determine if EMDR is right for you.
EMDR has been extensively researched, and it has been proven as rapid and long-lasting treatment for trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
EMDR has been empirically validated as effective for helping people deal with a hurtful past or recently disturbing events. It has also been shown to help other symptoms such as anxiety, depression, panic attacks, and addiction recovery.
EMDR studies have shown that the mind can heal from trauma, just as the body recovers from physical trauma.
The brain, with the right guidance, can heal itself.
Let’s say, for example, you cut your hand, and your body works to heal that wound. It will heal it… unless, of course, something continues to reinjure that cut area—such as a foreign object or infection.
Without appropriately tending to that wound, it can fester and cause more pain. However, once the foreign object is removed and the wound is cleaned from any infection, the healing process resumes.
The brain naturally works toward repair, in the same way our body works toward repair after a physical wound.
The brain can face its version of infection: “mental blocks” or “repeated traumas,” which can slow the healing process. Once the blocks are removed, healing can continue.
Using the procedures and protocols unique to EMDR, the therapist can help clients activate their natural healing process.
What is an EMDR session like?
The EMDR process has eight phases of treatment.
It’s important to keep in mind that each client is different, and the number of sessions spent in each phase varies.
Phase 1 (history taking) allows me to get to know you and your story, and you get to know me and my therapy style. We’ll talk about some events that may have contributed to your current symptoms and what you’ve been experiencing. We set up therapy goals—the things you would like to personally accomplish throughout this process.
Phase 2 (client preparation) is where I teach you some coping skills. Or, you can share what has worked or is working for you now, and we can build off that. The overall goal of this phase is to teach you some grounding and stress reduction skills, as well as to create an image that will make you feel safe. You will learn Bilateral Stimulation (BLS), which is back and forth eye movements, to help the right and left hemispheres with traumatic memories. You will also be able to activate your Adaptive Information Processing (AIP) to help access positive experiences, images, and thoughts. This all comes together to help process the trauma and allow the brain to release any negativity attached to the memories.
Phase 3 (assessment) is when you look at your target memory. You will be asked for the image, as well as negative and positive thoughts related to that image. You will then rate these thoughts and describe the experiences.
Phase 4 (desensitization) takes place when we process the disturbance of your target image by moving your eyes back and forth by BLS, or taps. You will be asked to rate how bothersome your memories are on a scale from 1-10. Together, we will use techniques used to assist you until you have a “zero rating,” at which point we will move on.
Phase 5 (installation) determines if your positive memory and rating has changed and how true it feels using a rating scale. You can also use BLS to see if anything gets in the way. If your rating is high, we can move on.
Phase 6 (body scan) is mentally scanning your body to find sensations or tensions indicating that something is “stuck” with regard to your chosen target. If the sensations continue to linger, we continue BLS.
Phase 7 (closure) is for me, the therapist, to provide closure for you. Our goal is to have you feel better compared to the start of the session. You are encouraged to use self-soothing skills learned from Phase 2 to keep track of the experience.
Phase 8 (reevaluation of treatment effect) is where we will reevaluate the disturbance levels from your target of the previous session to determine if your rating level is neutral… and if your positive thoughts continue to feel true. If not, then we go back to Phase 4.
Working together toward a peaceful state of being…
Without drugs or hypnosis, EMDR combines many positive elements various therapies along with left/right brain stimulation.
Similar to watching the windshield wipers move back and forth, this triggers the brain to bring up the hurtful or challenging memories, process them, and move along with the healing process.
We will reprocess your negative beliefs, images, and feelings… and replace them with more positive ones. Together we work toward resolution and a more peaceful overall state of being.
It’s time to move on from a past of hurt.
Think of your hurtful past as a tangled mess of kite string after it came crashing down into the branches of a tree. No matter how much you yanked and pulled to get it untangled and free, it only became more tangled and stuck.
EMDR can help untangle that mess and allow you to work through one string at a time, in a safe, contained way.
EMDR has a way of accelerating the therapeutic process, helping you to resolve your painful past so that you live more in the present.
Why wouldn’t you want that?
The past is a place of reference, not a place of residence. Are you ready to move?