EMDR Therapy

What Exactly Is EMDR Therapy And How Does It Work?

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing, or EMDR therapy, is an evidence-based therapeutic tool used for effectively treating symptoms related to trauma, such as PTSD, anxiety, and depression. Unlike traditional talk therapy, EMDR operates on a neurological level, stimulating your brain’s natural ability to heal itself.

When you experience trauma, your brain goes into fight, flight, or freeze mode. This makes it impossible for your brain to fully process memories of those events, thereby leaving you vulnerable to being overwhelmed or triggered at a later point by thoughts, feelings, images, sounds, and other sensations connected to those events. After successful EMDR counseling, you will still be able to recall the traumatic events, but you will no longer be overwhelmed or triggered by the thoughts, feelings, and imagery associated with them.

Although talk therapy is a beneficial and often a necessary part of trauma counseling, EMDR makes it possible to fully process the memories of those events so that they no longer have control over you in the present.

The Use Of EMDR Therapy And Who It Can Help

According to the EMDR International Association, Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing therapy is an effective, well-researched therapeutic intervention that has been proven to help individuals successfully address the impact of trauma as well as anxiety, depression, panic disorders, and PTSD.

Developed in 1987 by Dr. Francine Shapiro, EMDR has become the premiere treatment option for PTSD and other trauma-related disorders, and it has been recognized as an effective method of treatment by the American Psychological Association as well as The American Psychiatric Association.

This dynamic, mind-body approach to healing is helpful for treating symptoms of trauma regardless of the dimension of the trauma. For instance, “Big T” trauma usually stems from intense, singular events like a bad car accident or violent assault, whereas “little t” trauma usually involves relational or more insidious trauma. That could include, for instance, being raised by parents who were verbally abusive, battling addiction, or consistently unresponsive to emotional needs.

Because the effects of insidious or relational trauma can often look like depression or anxiety—or even unexplained, persistent physical pain—working with an EMDR therapist can be useful for people who fell stuck after trying to address these issues through talk therapy.

What Does The EMDR Treatment Process Look Like?

Rather than jumping straight into EMDR sessions, we’ll start with talk therapy and make sure you feel 100 percent safe, ready, and emotionally equipped to approach EMDR.

We will use talk therapy to gain a better understanding of your trauma, your emotional triggers, and your responses to them. We will give you the time you need to develop a sense of safety and trust in doing this work together.

Before starting EMDR, we will identify and practice self-soothing strategies that may be useful during EMDR counseling sessions. That could entail learning mindfulness skills, breathing exercises, and other powerful “resourcing” strategies. My years of experience teaching meditation and yoga can provide guidance and support in those areas as well.

Once you are ready, we’ll begin integrating eye movement, desensitization, and reprocessing techniques into therapy. In the first EMDR session, you’ll focus on a negative belief, body sensation, and image associated with the traumatic event before alternating to a positive belief associated with healing and recovery.

While you concentrate on the negative memory or event, you’ll experience several cycles of a form of bilateral brain stimulation—each about a minute long. You’ll have the choice of sound stimulation (using headphones to play alternating sounds in each ear), bilateral eye movement (following a finger or light source), or tactile sensation (using a set of buzzers that alternates sensations from left to right hand). We may also choose to combine two of these forms.

After each cycle, you’ll be asked to notice what comes to mind, how you feel, and what you sense in your body. As the process continues, you might notice shifts in imagery, sensation, thoughts, and beliefs associated with the event.

The cycle of sounds, buzzes, or eye movements along with the subsequent attention to thoughts, feelings, and bodily sensations are repeated until the traumatic event and its associations become less disturbing. It’s important to know that you have complete control over the process and the authority to slow things down or stop whenever you need or want to.

EMDR treatment can be integrated as a part of our standard talk therapy sessions. We can also use EMDR to supplement your traditional counseling sessions with another therapist or consider it a stand-alone treatment option. It all depends on your needs and preferences. That said, a typical EMDR session lasts between 60 to 90 minutes.

How Does EMDR Counseling Differ From Talk Therapy?

When a person is traumatized, their brain undergoes a neurological change that talk therapy cannot fully address on its own. Rather than focusing on managing the symptoms with tools and coping skills, EMDR heals the trauma on the same neurological level as its impact.

Clients are often surprised by the results even after only a handful of EMDR sessions. They report feeling less activated by memories, reminders, and experiences that have historically triggered great physical and emotional discomfort.

I’ve seen this approach help many people who have otherwise felt stuck in talk therapy. People who have endlessly tried behavior modification usually find they no longer need to work to modify thoughts, feelings, or behaviors once the root cause is addressed.

EMDR therapy gives people a chance to not only understand what is going on, but also the opportunity to free themselves from triggered responses to trauma that cause pain and disruption in their lives. In healing their original wound, individuals can enjoy healthier relationships, greater peace of mind, and feel safer and more comfortable in the world.

Discover What’s Possible With EMDR