What is EMDR?
Eye Movement Reprocessing and Desensitization (EMDR) is a therapy model that supports individuals in resolving behaviors and emotional responses associated with traumatic events or distressing memories. The first clinical trials for EMDR were held in 1989, and they produced overwhelmingly positive outcomes. Since then, numerous clinical trials have replicated these positive results in a variety of controlled settings. Evidence supports the effectiveness of EMDR as a mental health treatment.
EMDR uses sensory techniques to stimulate both sides of the brain in order to identify psychological wounds that have not healed. These unhealed wounds may cause emotional or physical distress for the affected individual. When the source of the wound is located through EMDR, therapists can guide clients through a restorative process that generates healing in all areas that have been affected.
EMDR recognizes that the psychological wound caused by a traumatic or distressing event in a person’s life is unable to complete the healing process. The brain’s protective mechanisms are frozen to the experience, which causes a block in other areas of the person’s thoughts, behaviors, emotions, and physical sensations. The result is that the person may have various symptoms that inhibit their ability to function:
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Symptoms may be periodic, only coming up during times that the wound is triggered.
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Symptoms might be constant, causing the person to be in a continuous state of dysfunction.
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Symptoms can also range in severity, from bothersome but manageable to completely debilitating.
Using bilateral stimulation, which is a therapeutic technique that engages both sides of the brain, EMDR helps clients transform a traumatic memory into a standard memory. The network in the brain where the client’s memory froze the processing mechanism can be released over the course of treatment. This allows processing to resume, which integrates the memory into the client’s life experience and untethers emotional and physical responses from that blocked network.
EMDR is so named because it typically applies eye movement as the method of bilateral stimulation. The therapist can offer different approaches to stimulate the bilateral movement. The therapist may offer to use an electronic source such as a ball on the computer screen that your eyes follow back and forth. The therapist may also offer for you to use alternating taps on your shoulders. An alternative method for those that may prefer having their eyes closed can use alternating tones through headphones. This bilateral motion mimics REM sleep, which is when it is believed that memories get organized and processed. The hypothesis behind EMDR is that it enables clients to engage their mind’s existing memory processing function to reprocess traumatic memories.
How Many Sessions Does EMDR Take?​
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EMDR is designed in an 8-phase treatment format. Phases may take longer than one session to complete, and some phases will be repeated until the client feels that all distressing memories have been resolved.
The first phase of treatment is always centered on developing a therapeutic alliance between the client and therapist. EMDR is practiced by licensed mental health professionals who are specially trained in the modality. Experienced therapists understand that all clients must be treated based on their unique circumstances and readiness. During the first phase, the therapist will work through the client’s history, looking to identify incidents and ongoing trauma that are related to their current symptoms. The next phase is meant to give the client tools for handling the stress and emotional response to the memories that will be uncovered during treatment.
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The following 3 phases are where the therapist and client get down to work, identifying the memories and recognizing how they affect the client’s beliefs, emotions, and physical sensations. Then they work on transforming negative beliefs into positive beliefs while engaging the eye movement in order to desensitize and reprocess the distressing memories.
In the final phases of treatment, the client pays attention to their ongoing symptoms and responses, particularly noticing how they feel when they encounter their usual triggers. The therapist helps the client take stock of their changes in distress, and then they discuss how to handle ongoing self-management.
EMDR can be combined with talk therapy approaches to provide further benefits of adapting to new thoughts, beliefs, and behaviors. Examples of talk therapy that are often implemented with EMDR include:
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Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
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Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)
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Exposure Response Prevention (ERP)
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Acceptance Commitment Therapy (ACT)
Talk therapy may continue on past the application of EMDR treatment if the client desires.
Is EMDR Like Hypnosis?
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EMDR is not a type of hypnosis, and it is not manipulative in any way. The process is often described by clients as meditative, but there is no loss of consciousness or control during treatment.
Client safety and empowerment are key to the effectiveness of any therapeutic approach. This applies in EMDR therapy. At times, clients may feel as though their session is intense, or they are uncomfortable with the memories that are coming up. They simply voice this discomfort, and the therapist will stop right where they are. EMDR therapists are trained to continually check in with clients to confirm their level of comfort throughout each session. They also provide reassurance that the need to stop EMDR treatment during a session is not a sign that it is ineffective, or that the client has done anything wrong. The client is free to try again at another time, or they are welcome to pause treatment with EMDR.
Online EMDR Therapy
EMDR works as a virtual therapy just like it does in an office setting. The benefits of online EMDR therapy include:
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The convenience of scheduling without having to consider commute time
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Joining a session from wherever the client is comfortable
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Having access to any qualified EMDR trained therapist licensed in a client’s state
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Continuing sessions while away at college or traveling
Online therapy platforms provide clients with the same confidential setting they would find in a therapy office. Treatment has shown to have similar rates of effectiveness whether delivered in-person or online.
Online EMDR therapy is shown to be an effective treatment for:
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Ongoing trauma, PTSD, and C-PTSD
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Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
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Anxiety and mood disorders
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Depression
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Chronic pain
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Addictions
Recovered & Restored Eating Disorder Therapy Center offers Online EMDR therapy with Breanna Potts, LPC. Breanna is an eating disorder and trauma specialist who is fully trained in EMDR therapy and is accepting new clients who reside in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, Delaware, Connecticut, Vermont, South Carolina, and Florida.
To learn more about EMDR therapy and to schedule your first therapy session, please get in touch today!
At Recovered & Restored, we are here to support every client as she bravely takes the next steps toward healing.