What makes EMDR therapy an efficient and effective treatment?

Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR) is an evidence-based, structured and experiential form of therapy that guides clients to briefly access a traumatic memory while engaging in bilateral stimulation (BLS) usually side-to-side eye movements. Instead of trying to just cope with the effects of trauma, EMDR goes straight to the core problems and works directly on those past events, present triggers, and future worries. EMDR can help reduce trauma-related symptoms such as intense and disturbing emotions, distressing visual images, strong physical sensations, and negative core beliefs. Clients may experience lasting relief from as little as 2-3 sessions for an isolated, single incident to many more sessions for complex trauma.  

Applications

Clinicians have found EMDR to be highly effective when used as a standalone therapy or in conjunction with other therapeutic modalities when treating the following:

• PTSD and complex PTSD

• Disturbing memories / nightmares

• Depression

• Anxiety / Phobias / panic attacks / performance anxiety

• Personality disorders

• Sexual or physical abuse

• Complicated grief

• Attachment and relationship issues

• Stress

• Dissociative disorders

• Addiction

• Pain disorders

Memories and trauma

People may experience a state of “reliving the trauma’’ long after the event has passed and their ability to live in the present and learn from new experiences can become inhibited. EMDR helps create the connections between the brain’s memory networks in a targeted manner by reactivating the traumatic memory using bilateral stimulation, desensitising the distress associated with the memory and reprocessing the experience in an adaptive way.

What happens in an EMDR session?

EMDR is an 8-phase protocol which includes a thorough assessment and preparation phase. During reprocessing, the client watches the psychologist’s fingers move side-to-side across their visual field while thinking about the traumatic memory. Sometimes a bar of moving lights, buzzers or sounds are used as another form of BLS. Clients often report the memory to feel more distant, they experience little to no distress and can connect a more adaptive narrative to the event such as “I am worthy”. Other associated memories may also process at the same time leading to a dramatic and rapid improvement in many aspects of their life.

Can anyone benefit from EMDR?

EMDR can accelerate therapy by resolving the impact of these past events and allowing clients to live more fully in the present. It is not, however, appropriate for everyone. The process is rapid, and any disturbing experiences, if they occur at all, last for a comparatively brief period. Nevertheless, the client needs to be aware of, and willing to experience, the strong feelings and disturbing thoughts, which sometimes occur during sessions. If the client is involved in a legal case and need to testify, it is advisable that the client discusses this treatment with their lawyer and psychologist before starting EMDR therapy.

Learn more: https://www.emdria.org/about-emdr-therapy/