EMDR
What is EMDR?
Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing (EMDR) is a type of evidence based therapy treatment primarily used for treating trauma, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), and Acute Stress Disorder (ASD). It was founded by Dr. Francine Shapiro who recognized the connection of eye movement and brain reprocessing. This post is a summary of EMDR, exploring how it works, what types of disorders/issues it treats, and how to know if it’s the right kind of treatment for you.
1.What Is EMDR?
EMDR, or Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing, is a type of therapy designed to help people process and heal from traumatic memories. It works by using guided eye movements or other types of bilateral stimulation (like tapping or sounds) while the person recalls distressing events. The idea is that this helps the brain reprocess the memories in a way that reduces their emotional charge, making them feel less overwhelming
EMDR is what the psychology world calls “experiential” form of treatment, meaning it’s more about the person’s experience, rather than just traditional talk therapy. Because EMDR has more to do with the brain-body connection, and less to do with your interpretation of events, it relies more on the client’s experience in the therapy room. Some say, this can be a much kinder way of processing trauma because it’s not about retelling the events, but more about resorting the way the events are stored.
2. How does EMDR Work?
EMDR works in 8 phases.
Phase 1: History Taking: this is when you and your therapist talk about what you’re wanting to target with EMDR. This could be a specific memory, such as a car accident or rape; several memories connected to each other, i.e. memories associated to early childhood; or reoccurring themes that seem to keep coming up in your life, i.e. anxiety around dealing with money or setting boundaries in your relationship.
Phase 2: Preparation: Once you and your therapist have determined what specifically you want to target, your therapist will then help you with resources. These often look like relaxation exercises, providing further information and clarification about the EMDR process, answering any questions you might have, so you can feel supported as you venture down this journey.
Phase 3: Assessment: Here, your therapist will ask you a series of questions to have get really specific about the target area. You’ll be asked to identify images, beliefs, feelings, body sensations that are associated with your memory. You will also be asked to identify what new belief you want to have connected to this memory. For example, perhaps you were in a car accident and currently, every time you are back in a car, your heart rate goes up, your palms get sweaty and you keep thinking “I’m going to die!” After EMDR, the hope would be to get you to a place of a much more calm state (less physical reactions) and the new belief of “I’m in control of me and how I drive.” You might also be asked a few “scaling questions” (on a scale of 0-10 or 1-7). This is to help you and your therapist track your progress and see if there might be a need for any kind of adjustments.
Phase 4: Desensitization: This is where the reprocessing begins. Your therapist will ask you to participate in Bilateral Stimulation. This is often when the therapist will use their figures and move back and forth, instructing you to follow with your eyes. Or your therapist might have you tap of your legs or chest or have devices such as vibrators or headphones. Bilateral Stimulation forces your brain to focus on two things at once (the memory and the simulation) so that it can be in the past and the present at the same time and offer new stimulation to help reprocess the events to be less stressful, and most of all, to communicate to your brain and body that the event is over.
During this phase, your therapist will interrupt every so often to check in asking “What did you notice?” Or “What came up for you now?” They’re not asking for you to reprocess everything verbally, but they’re checking in to see how things are moving and if there needs to be any kind of adjustment. Usually, it’s best for short answers so you stay in the memory as much as possible.
They’ll then reaffirm things are moving by restarting the bilateral stimulation and say “Okay, go with that” or “Notice that.” This means to just keep doing what you’re doing, noticing what comes up next, what shifts or changes for you. The whole goal is to just let your brain do what it normally does, without adding judgment or interpretation to it. We’re just noticing what shifts, changes, expands, and so on.
Phase 5: Instillation: After you come to a place where the memory is no longer distressing or has become neutral, the therapist will help apply the new belief you identified in Phase 3 with continued Bilateral Stimulation to create new associations with this memory.
Phase 6: Body Scan: Then, when the new belief feels really true, the therapist will ask you to scan you body to see if the distress is still sitting in your body. Remember, your body keeps the score so we want to “clear out” any remaining distress or holding on that could interfere with your new beliefs.
Phase 7: Closure: This is where your therapist will walk you through a transition from reprocessing to being back in your present. Often, this is when guided imagery, relaxation exercises, or breathing exercises will be used. The idea behind this is to help get you to a state of “normal” so you can return to your every day life and not be back in the memories.
Phase 8: Reevaluation: the following session, your therapist will go back and check to see if the new beliefs are still established and the distress is gone.
Now this doesn’t normally happen in just one session. There really isn’t a timeline on how long this process can take- sometimes clients will need to be in stage 3 and 4 for several sessions. It takes as long as it takes. And that’s all okay. This is a great thing to discuss with you therapist in the Preparation Stage.
3. What can EMDR treat other than trauma?
EMDR can also be used to help with anxiety, depression, OCD, panic attacks, phobias, grief, and even chronic pain. The bilateral stimulation can can help shift unhelpful emotional and thought patterns to reduce emotional distress and improve how someone might react to difficult situations. I’ve seen it be effective in someone’s negative association to food and learning to reprocess where those aversions come from and how to instill new belief systems that are more aligned with their goals and values.
4. How do I know if EMDR is right for me?
The best way to know if EMDR is right for you is to first find an EMDR trained therapist and ask them about it. Second, give it a try. EMDR is not a magic one size fits all, and doesn’t necessarily work for everybody, but it can be a very helpful tool to find freedom from memories and themes that keep coming back- especially if you have tired other types of therapy. As with anything, if it doesn’t work after a session or two, that’s okay to try something else. It just a tool, not the only one.
Wrapping Up
EMDR has been proven to be an effective tool in many different settings from war veterans and rape victims, to those who carry complex-PTSD symptoms, to those suffering with high anxiety and avoidance to money management. I’ve seen it effective in my clients’ lives as well as my own personal experience with it. I like to think of it as giving your brain a boost in a process it does naturally in memory storage.
If this connects to you and and you’re interested in EMDR I encourage you to use this link, and schedule a free 15-minute phone consultation call with me. Let's see if EMDR is the next right step for you in your healing journey!
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