“The past affects the present even without our being aware of it.”
EMDR Therapy helps with something each and every one of us have in common. We all have experiences of disturbance, distress, and pain in our lives. Whether we’re talking about a big “T” or little “t”, that being trauma, we have all encountered hurt that has lingered with us in one way or another. This hurt can be emotional, mental, physical, sexual, and/or spiritual. The difference maker is how those different experiences got stored in our brain, either adaptively or maladaptively. Adaptive means it was stored appropriately and recall leads to positive or neutrally thoughts and feelings. Maladaptive storing of these memories carries with it negative and weighty responses. The likeliest scenario is we have a mixture of both.
THE ROOTS OF EMDR
In the late 1980s, Francine Shapiro, Ph.D., discovered a connection between eye movement and persistent upsetting memories. She began a lifelong study and development of Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy. EMDR Therapy is an evidence-based treatment for trauma. It incorporates aspects of various evidenced based approaches such as Psychodynamic, Person Centered, Cognitive Therapy, Internal Family Systems, and more. EMDR is a three-pronged approach aimed at addressing the past, present, as well as the future. It follows an extensive 8-phase psychotherapy model, which is laid out below.
Over the years, EMDR has undergone rigorous scientific study, and research has found it to be effective in treating various mental health conditions. Today, EMDR is widely recognized as a valid and effective form of treatment for trauma and different disturbing experiences by organizations such as the American Psychiatric Association, the Department of Defense, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the World Health Organization, and more. EMDR therapists in well over 100 countries have successfully treated millions.
“Sadly, disturbing experiences, whether major traumas or other kinds of upsetting events, can overwhelm the system. When that happens, the intense emotional and physical disturbance caused by the situation prevents the information processing system from making the internal connections needed to take it to a resolution. Instead, the memory of the situation becomes stored in the brain as you experienced it. What you saw and felt, the image, the emotions, the physical sensations and the thoughts become encoded in memory in their original, unprocessed form.”
Is EMDR REALLY for me?
So all this talk about trauma, what if you don’t have significantly disturbing memories that are part of your story? What if you don’t have troubling memories that you regularly thinking about? Can EMDR still help? Yes, it can. Not everyone has big “T” traumas as part of their life story. Yet, we may still find ourselves ruminating on some life experiences or even stuck playing them out in our present day life without realizing it. Other memories we might not think about at all, let alone even remember them. We might say, “The past is in the past, I don’t think about it, thus I’m over it”. Despite holding this belief that given you don’t think about the past, it must not impact you, if the past was stored maladaptively, than truth be told, it still affects you. Our unresolved past can still find it’s way into our present and as such our future. Knowing that, isn’t it worth looking in to, so as to break free of it?
What can EMDR help with?
EMDR can help treat many presenting issues, such as anxiety, depression, pain, loss, PTSD, and even dealing with unwanted behavioral patterns. Perhaps the difficulties you are facing are recurring challenges in personal and/or professional relationships, difficulty cultivating closeness, negative self talk, trouble experiencing and/or managing emotions, patterns of avoidance/shutting down, unhealthy coping strategies, or something else. EMDR Therapy has relational application and incorporates specific interventions and techniques to help heal attachment wounds.
“You can’t start the next chapter of your life if you keep re-reading the last one.”
is EMDR different from talk therapy?
EMDR therapy does not require talking in detail about the distressing issue and memories. It’s designed to resolve unprocessed traumatic memories in the brain by allowing the brain to resume its natural healing process. Our brains have a natural way to recover from traumatic memories and events. This process involves communication between three parts of the brain: the amygdala, hippocampus, and prefrontal context. Each part serves a perhaps - the amygdala is the alarm signal for stressful events, while the hippocampus assists with learning, including memories about safety and danger, and then the prefrontal cortex help analyze and control behavior and emotion. All of them work together. While traumatic experiences can often be managed and resolved spontaneously, they might not be fully processed without help.
Stress responses are part of our natural fight, flight, freeze, and fawn instincts. When distress from a disturbing event remains, the upsetting images, thoughts, and emotions may create an overwhelming feeling of being back in that moment, or of being “frozen in time.” EMDR therapy helps the brain process these memories, and allows normal healing to resume. The experience is still remembered, but the stress responses from the original event is resolved.
what’s an EMDR session like?
During an EMDR session, the therapist will guide you through a series of eye movements, taps, and/or sounds while you focus on the traumatic memory. The eye movements or other forms are called bilateral stimulation. It’s believed to help initiate processing of the memory by activating both the left and right sides of your brain. The therapist helps the client notice thoughts, emotions, and/or physical sensations that come up during the process. Then the counselor works with you to address negative beliefs, instill positive cognitions, clear the body of stored stress, as well as develop more adaptive means of coping.
EMDR’s 8 Phase approach
EMDR is a structured approach. It’s about moving deliberately and with intentionality. NOTE: Phases 3-8 will be repeated multiple times throughout the EMDR process as needed to address multiple traumatic memories.
1) History Taking - Information is collected about issues, your symptoms, experiences, and triggers to help determine if you would benefit from EMDR. “Targets” — specific memories — that are related to your difficulties will be identified during this phase.
2) Preparation - EMDR therapy will be explained in detail: how it works, what you can expect during the EMDR process, the purpose of shoulder tapping, and several coping and grounding exercises you will use throughout the EMDR process.
3) Assessment - During this phase, a specific target memory and any related beliefs will be identified. Your current level of distress related to the memory will be assessed.
4) Desensitization - Using bilateral stimulation, you will reprocess your target memory to reduce your distress related to it. Your level of distress will be assessed at multiple points throughout the process.
5) Installation - You will focus on the target memory while thinking about a new, more functional belief. You will then complete additional shoulder tapping to increase how true the new belief feels to you.
6) Body Scan - Here, you will be guided through a Body Scan exercise to help identify any lingering tension or tightness in your body.
7) Closure - Following the completion of the previous steps, you will be informed of what you can expect following an EMDR session. You will be encouraged to continue using your grounding strategies, and to write down the things you notice in the days following a session.
8) Reevaluation - At the start of your next session, your distress level related to the target memory from last session will be assessed. You may need to spend additional time reprocessing the target memory or additional target memories may be identified that you want to work through.
Other questions about EMDR feel free to ask. Our Therapists are in EMDR Basic trained and working toward full certification.
“It all begins and ends in your mind. What you give power to, has power over you, if you allow it.”
