What is EMDR?

If you cut your finger, your body is designed so that it can heal itself.  However, if you cut yourself too deep, then you need stitches to help the body to repair the damage.  If you experience a trauma, your mind is designed to heal itself as well.  However, if the trauma is too big for us to handle in the moment, our mind splinters the traumatic experience and sends it to the back of the brain where it remains outside the realm of conscious thought. 

The mind does this so that we can continue to function.  However, even though we may not consciously think of the trauma, we will get caught on the “splinters” of the traumatic experience.  This is where we often feel stuck or where we react to things in a way that is much bigger than the thing we are reacting to. 

What Does EMDR Look Like?

EMDR is an 8 Stage process that involves preparation, treatment, and re-evaluation.  However, what most people think of as EMDR is the following of fingers or a light on a light bar back and forth.  As the client is moving their eyes back and forth they bring up the traumatic experience, allowing the mind to go with it where it needs to go to heal itself.  There will be breaks in the eye movements where the client briefly reports to the therapist what they most recently experienced.  This is followed by more eye movements until the traumatic experience no longer causes distress. 

What Does EMDR Stand For?

 “Eye Movement” –Dr. Francine Shapiro discovered that rapid back and forth eye movement reduced disturbing thoughts and feelings.  Now we understand what is needed is bi-lateral stimulation of the brain while thinking of the traumatic experience.  This can be achieved with eye movements, tones, or by tapping. 

“Desensitization” – This refers to the removal of emotional disturbances associated with the traumatic experience.  When a traumatic experience has been sufficiently processed, we will still remember it, but will no longer experience the negative emotions and sensations associated with the traumatic event. 

“Reprocessing” – This refers to replacing unhealthy negative beliefs, emotions, and sensations associated with the traumatic event with more positive beliefs, emotions, and sensations. 

Who Would Benefit from EMDR?

EMDR has proved highly successful in the treatment of major trauma and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).  However, Dr. Shapiro points out that whether you are suffering from a big “T” traumatic event (e.g. rape, war, etc.) or a little “t” traumatic event (such as being bullied at school), any of these can change the way we think about ourselves and wind up getting stored dysfunctionally in our brains.  EMDR can help with both big and little “T” traumas.

EMDR has worked for:

• Combat veterans

• Phobias and panic disorders

• Trauma of assault or natural disaster

• Excessive grief from the lost of loved ones

• Sexual assault survivors

• Accident, surgery, or burn survivors

• Performance enhancement

• Body dysmorphic disorder or chronic pain

EMDR is considered a “non-talk” therapy.  Which makes EMDR perfect for people who do not want to talk about the traumatic event in depth.  EMDR can also be useful for people who tend to like talk therapy approaches but are finding that they are still stuck on a particular issue despite trying to work on it using talk therapy.