What is EMDR Therapy, and How Can It Help Me?
By Ali Chacalias, Registered Psychologist
What is EMDR?
EMDR Therapy, also known as Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing Therapy, is an evidence-based therapeutic modality that originated as a trauma treatment. EMDR has since evolved to be able to treat many conditions including but not limited to trauma, anxiety, phobias, depression, and addiction.
Francine Shapiro created EMDR therapy in 1987 (Shapiro, 2018). The goal of EMDR therapy is to help individuals process memories or experiences that occurred in the past but are still impactful in the present. This phenomenon tends to be described by clients as feeling as though they are stuck in, reliving, or still emotionally impacted by past experiences in the present moment. This may also be experienced as having certain beliefs, emotional reactions, thoughts, or somatic (body) experiences that are tied to past experiences. When we experience trauma, our nervous system reacts automatically. Some traumatic experiences simply overwhelm our nervous system’s ability to cope, which is when trauma can become stuck and unprocessed (an experience that EMDR can help with).
How Does EMDR Work?
EMDR uses a technique called bilateral dual-attention stimulation (Shapiro, 2018). Bilateral stimulation involves stimulation of the left and right side of the brain through eye movements, alternating tapping, or tones (Shapiro, 2018). This helps us file these impactful memories into long-term memory so that they are still memories that we know happened; however, they are more emotionally neutralized and less emotionally impactful in our day-to-day life (Knipe, 2019). EMDR is structured in a strategic way, where the client and therapist carefully move through 8-phases that focus on safety, regulation, support, and processing. Clients tend to come out of EMDR therapy with a different relationship to past experiences, shifts in unhelpful cognitions and beliefs about themselves and decreased emotional arousal related to past events.
Who Can Benefit From EMDR?
I recommend EMDR to those clients that find they are still noticing the impacts of past events. EMDR may also benefit those who have tried other types of therapy to change unhelpful thoughts, emotions, or behavior patterns and have not been successful. The basis behind EMDR believes that current challenges are often rooted in past experiences. Using EMDR can allow us to get to the root of our current challenges in order to move forward with a new, more adaptive perspective (Shapiro, 2018).
Finding an EMDR Therapist
When seeking out EMDR as a therapy approach, it is essential to find an EMDR Trained Therapist so that they can safely guide you into creating healing and change. I use EMDR regularly in my practice to support those clients who have experienced past trauma or are feeling stuck in their lives.
Schedule an initial consultation or session to learn more about if EMDR may be right for you.
Disclaimer:
Please note the content included in all blog posts are for educational/informational purposes only. They are not meant to replace mental health support or treatment. They are not meant as psychological advice.
Sources:
Knipe, J. (2019). EMDR toolbox: Theory and treatment of Complex PTSD and Dissociation. Springer Publishing Company.
Shapiro, F. (2018). Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy: Basic principles, protocols, and procedures (3rd ed.). The Guilford Press.