What Is EMDR?

EMDR stands for Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing. It is a type of therapy proven to help people heal from traumatic and other distressing life experiences including anxiety and depression. EMDR shows that your mind can heal just like your body does. Think for example, if you cut yourself your body works to heal the wound but if you constantly hit the same spot or something gets in the cut it will get infected and be painful until that object is removed. The brain also has its own healing system and if that gets blocked by a traumatic event that emotional wound will fester until that event is processed. Using specific EMDR protocols therapists help your brain heal again.

Who Can Benefit From EMDR Therapy?

The list is endless but here are some examples of people that can be helped with EMDR: sexual assault victims, accident victims, people with anxiety or depression, people suffering from chronic pain, people with PTSD and trauma, those who have grieved a loss, first responders like police officers or paramedics, people suffering from childhood trauma including verbal and emotional abuse, domestic violence survivors, among many others.

What To Expect From An EMDR Session?

First you and your therapist will go over history taking, understanding the symptoms that brought you therapy and creating a treatment plan identifying specific memories from the past that relate to this present problem. You will learn calming techniques to be able to manage the emotions that may come up during this process and select the form eye movement that is more comfortable to you. The side to side eye movements are known as bilateral stimulation (BLS) as the the left and right hemisphere of the brain is stimulated which helps in processing the trauma memories. You and your therapist with pick a memory to start with, then your therapist will guide your through desensitizing that memory so that when you think about it no emotional disturbance comes up. Then you will work on enhancing positives beliefs about yourself related to the memory, for example “I’m good enough” or “I’m worthy”. Lastly you will check your work by making sure that when you bring up that memory your body is cleared of any negative sensations, there are no lumps in your throat, or heavy chest, or uncomfortable butterflies in your stomach. This entire process will more than likely take multiple sessions to get through, ending each session with one of the calming techniques learned previously and starting each new session by re-evaluating the memory depending where you left off. Also, EMDR is a three part process where you will go over the past memories, current problems, and then creating a template for in the future when presented with similar situation how will you want to feel, think, or manage it differently in a more adaptive way.

What Are The Side Effects Of EMDR?

Distressing emotions, memories you had seemly forgotten about, and dreams may come up during treatment.

How Many Sessions Will It Take?

The number of sessions depends on the client, their specific problem, and trauma history. However, usually a single trauma can be processed in about 4 to 6 sessions. For clients with complex trauma and multiple incidents it can take much longer.

How Many Sessions With The Therapist Before We Begin EMDR?

The client needs to be able to self-soothe and use calming techniques that will be taught by the therapist before starting the process. The amount of preparation will vary by client but usually after two sessions you will be able to being actively processing memories.

Can You Do EMDR Therapy Online?

Yes! During the first few sessions you and your therapist will work together in preparation so you feel safe and comfortable in your environment, learning the tools so you are able self soothe, figuring out what kind of bilateral stimulation works best for you, and the rest would follow just like any other EMDR session in person.

What If I Can’t Remember What Happened In My Childhood?

That is ok! We do not need clear detailed memories for EMDR to work. In EMDR we work with the implicit which comes from the unconscious and more associated with feelings and the body rather than with explicit memory which is about facts and events.

Can Children Do EMDR?

Yes! Through EMDR children can see improvements very quickly as they are able to resolve memories quicker than adults.

How Is EMDR Different Than CBT?

In Cognitive Behavioral Therapy the negative thoughts that contribute to depression, anxiety or any other symptoms are changed by challenging and reframing them and often completing homework exercises. In EMDR the thoughts, feelings, and physical sensations that are contributing to current issues are changed using bilateral stimulation during the session.

Got any other EMDR related questions not answered here? Reach out here and together we can determine whether EMDR is right for you.