EMDR Therapy Explained
The mind can often heal itself naturally, in the same way as the body does. Much of this natural coping mechanism occurs during sleep, particularly during rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. Francine Shapiro developed EMDR therapy in 1987, utilizing this natural process in order to successfully treat PTSD. Since then EMDR has been used to effectively treat a wide range of mental health problems.
EMDR stands for Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing. It’s a type of therapy designed to help people heal from the emotional pain of traumatic or distressing memories. EMDR is an evidenced based trauma treatment as well as treatment for anxiety, depression, phobias, grief, and other emotional difficulties linked to past events. It works by helping the brain process a painful memory so it no longer feels like it’s happening in the present.
How it works
When something out of the ordinary occurs and you are traumatized by an overwhelming event or by being repeatedly subjected to distress your natural coping mechanisms can become overloaded. This overloading can result in disturbing experiences remaining frozen in your brain or being “unprocessed.” Even if the memory itself is long forgotten, the painful feelings such as anxiety, panic, anger, or despair are continually triggered in the present. Your ability to live in the present and learn from new experiences can become inhibited. EMDR helps create the connections between your brain’s memory network’s enabling your brain to process the traumatic memory in a very natural way.
EMDR therapy helps “unstick” that memory so it can be integrated into your brain’s normal memory system. The process usually involves:
- Recalling the distressing memory.
- Adding bilateral stimulation — for example, following a therapist’s finger moving side-to-side, tapping your hands alternately, or holding a “tapper” in each hand that creates bilateral vibration.
- Processing the memory with new, more adaptive thoughts and feelings.
- You will also be asked to report back on the experiences you have had during each of these sets of eye movements.
The idea is that this stimulation helps your brain “join the dots” between the memory and other information about safety, so the memory loses its emotional charge. With repeated sets of eye movements the memory tends to change in such a way that it loses it’s painful intensity and simply becomes a neutral memory of an event in the past. Other associated memories may also heal at the same time. This linking of related memories can lead to a dramatic and rapid improvement in many aspects of your life.
What to expect when doing EMDR therapy
- Sessions can be from 60-90 minutes, and are usually 5–12 sessions, though some people see results in just a few.
- You may feel some emotional or physical discomfort during recall, but the goal is to work through it in a safe environment.
- The therapist will guide you to focus on positive beliefs you want to strengthen alongside the memory.
During EMDR treatment you will remain in control, fully alert, and wide awake. This is not a form of hypnosis and you can stop the process at any time. Throughout the session your therapist will support and facilitate your own self-healing and intervene as little as possible. Reprocessing is usually experienced as something that happens spontaneously and new connections and insights are felt to arise quite naturally from within. As a result most people experience EMDR as being a natural and very empowering therapy.
Why it’s helpful
A growing body of clinical research on EMDR efficacy demonstrates that EMDR therapy is highly effective in reducing symptoms of trauma and PTSD. Because it taps directly into the brain’s natural healing mechanisms, many individuals find it provides faster, long-lasting relief than traditional talk therapy alone.
In short: EMDR is like giving your brain a “reset” for a stuck traumatic memory helping it process it, so it no longer controls your emotions.
Are you interesting in EMDR therapy?