About EMDR Therapy
What is EMDR Therapy?
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is a psychotherapy approach that was developed by Francine Shapiro to quickly reduce distress due to traumatic experiences.
Research shows EMDR therapy to be appropriate for both children and adults and for a range of concerns, including:
Anxiety, panic attacks, and phobias
Chronic Illness and medical issues
Depression and bipolar disorders
Dissociative disorders
Eating disorders
Grief and loss
Pain
Substance abuse and addiction
What does an EMDR session look like?
Most people usually only think of eye movements when discussing EMDR therapy but EMDR therapy has eight phases that addresses past, present and future. Bilateral stimulation (eye movement, shoulder tapping, auditory stimulation) is only one aspect of this therapy.
EMDR treatment begins with phase one, history and information gathering. You and your therapist will explore your history, including a general understanding of traumatic experiences, mental health concerns, safety concerns and goals for therapy. Your therapist will complete the Dissociative Experience Scale (DES) or other inventories to identify things such as dissociation or PTSD symptoms. This phase will help you and your therapist determine if EMDR is likely to be helpful.
Phase two includes preparation and education. During this time, your therapist may focus on providing education related to therapy, the EMDR process, your body’s response to stress etc. Your therapist will also focus on identifying and practicing various coping skills to help with emotional regulation. An EMDR treatment plan is developed.
Phase three, assessment, involves exploring specific concerns or symptoms you would like to reprocess, memories connected to these symptoms, negative beliefs associated with these experiences and the positive belief you would rather hold about yourself.
Phase four is desensitization and reprocessing. Depending on how long it takes you to move through the first three phases, it may be weeks or months before you start this phase. As distressing as your symptoms may be, you and your therapist should not rush the first three stages. You will want to be as prepared as possible to manage the stress of reprocessing, because you will be asked to recall aspects of a traumatic experience and sit with that memory (or image, sound, physical sensation) as you engage in some type of bilateral stimulation, such as eye movement, tapping or auditory stimulation. Your therapist will check in with you during reprocessing sessions to see what new thoughts, feelings, sensations or memories you are experiencing.
Phase five involves the installation of the positive belief you want to have for yourself as your relationship with the traumatic memory changes. This is followed by phase six, a body scan, to identify any distressing feelings or sensations that may still be held in your body. This may include additional reprocessing to resolve any distressing sensations.
During phase seven, closure and stabilization, you and your therapist will identify what you need in the moment to comfortably end the EMDR session and what you may experience until your next EMDR session. Your therapist will encourage you to identify any new thoughts, memories, feelings or sensations you experience during the week, and to bring this up in your next session. In the final stage, reevaluation, you and your therapist will review your progress, the effects EMDR is having, any additional sessions that are needed or new goals to explore. You and your therapist will also shift to addressing future experiences and ways you would like to feel, think and respond differently should similar stressful experiences occur.
How does it work?
Let’s geek out over some theory! EMDR is based on the Adaptive Information Processing (AIP) model, developed by Francine Shapiro, which theorized that the brain stores normal and traumatic memories differently.
According to the AIP model, the brain stores memories smoothly and groups memories into networks, so they connect to other things you remember. When you experience an event that is traumatic or disturbing, this process gets disrupted and these memories are stored in isolation, in your short-term memory. Due to this lack of healing and the improper storing of traumatic memory, your brain does not understand that you are no longer in danger. New experiences that have similar elements to the original traumatic experience, are now linked to this original memory and reinforce that sense of danger. The stronger this sense of danger becomes, the more sensitive your brain and body are to sights, sounds, smells, and feelings that trigger this trauma.
EMDR therapy helps you directly link these traumatic memories to an adaptive memory network, which allows these experiences to be correctly stored in your long term memory while keeping useful knowledge and discarding maladaptive information. After EMDR therapy, you will still have these memories and you will still have a reaction to these memories-as you should when you experience something unpleasant or threatening. With EMDR therapy, emotional distress and physiological arousal is reduced and negative beliefs about yourself, others and the world are more adaptive.
