Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)
What is EMDR?
Our life experiences shape who we are, even on a subconscious level. They influence how we feel, think, navigate relationships, and the world around us. These experiences are often supportive, providing us with opportunities to learn, grow, and develop our sense of self. However, sometimes our experiences and subsequent memories can result in making us feel stuck. This feeling of being stuck can be accompanied by distressing symptoms (e.g., flashbacks, panic, fear, etc) that impact our daily life and functioning. The intention of Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is not to erase memories, but help you navigate and process stuck memories, allowing for healing and increased wellbeing.
The Adaptive Information Processing (AIP) model that underpins EMDR maintains that each individual innately posses the ability to heal and thrive. According to AIP, when individuals encounter situations that are distressing or traumatic, these memories may not be stored or processed fully/accurately in our minds. You can imagine these memories are like books in a library that have been mis-shelved or mis-classified. These “mis-shelved books” or experiences, can result in distressing symptoms and leave an individual feeling stuck. The objective of EMDR is to use the power of your nervous system to reprocess and store these memories in a more adaptive way.
How Does It Work?
Over multiple sessions, an EMDR therapist will guide you through the eight-phases of EMDR. The initial stages of EMDR are focused on learning about you and preparing you to engage in processing traumatic or distressing memories. This looks like 1) the therapist gathering information about your history and goals, 2) collaboratively developing a treatment plan, which includes identifying memories to target during later processing stages, and 3) support you in developing coping skills and techniques to use if distress arises during or after an EMDR session.
After this, an EMDR therapist will help you begin to process targeted memories. EMDR utilizes bilateral stimulation (BLS) to reprocess memories. It is thought BLS allows both hemispheres of your brain to be activated, mimicking REM sleep, and allowing for stuck memories or emotions to move through. Eye movement is the most widely used form of BLS, but other types of BLS include tactile stimulation (self-tapping or through a handheld device) or bilateral sounds. An EMDR therapist will work to identify what method is best for you and most can be used in a virtual or in-person setting. Due to the use of BLS in EMDR, you don’t have to verbally process trauma! You will be guided and supported throughout EMDR, but extensive verbal processing can disrupt the process.
Once the ‘yuck,’ or difficult memories, is ‘unstuck,’ a therapist will proceed in supporting you to install a positive belief or cognition to associate with the targeted memory. EMDR processing will conclude once the belief has been installed and you feel regulated in your body. A therapist will ask thoughtful questions to ascertain if the cognition has been installed and will guide you through a body scan to gauge somatic regulation.
In subsequent sessions, the therapist may revisit the processed memory to ensure you do not feel distress about the memory and feel connected to the positive cognition established.
IS EMDR Right for Me?
There are a multitude of ways to process distressing or traumatic memories, EMDR is just one. EMDR is an evidenced-based therapy that has been found to be effective in treating trauma, post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, anxiety, panic, and depression, amongst other mental health conditions.
EMDR therapy is a collaborative process, centered on cultivating safety and resources to reprocess difficult memories adaptively. If you are interested in EMDR, please feel free to reach out for a free 15-minute consultation to see if this therapy is right for you.
If EMDR does not feel like a good fit, but you are still interested in therapy, know there are different types of therapies we can use in your healing and wellness journey.
Click here for additional resources and information on EMDR.
*Note there are some medical and mental health conditions that are not recommended for EMDR therapy.
“The past affects the present even without our being aware of it.”
― Francine Shapiro