EMDR Therapy in a nutshell
Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR) is a structured and experiential form of therapy that helps the client briefly access a traumatic memory while engaging in bilateral stimulation (usually side to side eye movements). EMDR helps “process” a disturbing event resulting in a reduction in distress and vividness in the images thus creating distance from the memory. EMDR therapy is an innovative, effective clinical treatment for PTSD symptoms where its validity and reliability have been proven by rigorous research since 1989.
Clinicians have found EMDR to be highly effective for a range of mental health issues when used as a standalone therapy or in conjunction with other therapeutic modalities. EMDR can help with
• PTSD and complex PTSD
• Depression
• Anxiety
• Panic attacks
• Stress
• Performance anxiety
• Disturbing memories
• Phobias
• Personality disorders
• Complicated grief
• Dissociative disorders
• Pain disorders
• Body dysmorphic disorders
• Eating disorders
• Sexual or physical abuse
• Attachment or relationship issues
Memories and trauma
For most people, memories are stored in long term memory as a story with few vivid images. Memories can then be recalled when needed and often does not interfere with the person’s current life or future aspirations. Most of the time, your brain routinely manages new information and experiences without you being aware of it. However, when something out of the ordinary occurs and you are overwhelmed by the distressing event (e.g., a car accident) or by being repeatedly subjected to distress (e.g. childhood neglect), your brain’s natural information processing system becomes overloaded. The memory is stored in a raw and emotional form and does not connect with the meaning making part of the brain.
These distressing events often resurface as intrusive thoughts or emotions, negative beliefs about themselves or others, nightmares, or flashbacks. The brain naturally attempts to process the trauma, but the memory keeps looping and cannot integrate into the person’s life story and remains deeply disturbing. The person experiences 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 your brain’s memory networks by reactivating the memory, desensitising the distress associated with the memory and reprocessing the experience so it can feel resolved in an adaptive way. The therapy doesn’t help people forget bad memories, but it can significantly reduce the distress around it.
Why are eye movements necessary?
During rapid eye movement (REM) or dream sleep, our brain tries to make sense of our experiences or future worries. That is why we sometimes wake up feeling differently about experiences that were upsetting from the day before. Just like in REM sleep, it was found that the side-to-side eye movements helps the brain process the memory. Other forms of bilateral stimulation using tactile, or audio stimulation have also found to be effective.
Attachment or relational trauma
Attachment-focused EMDR therapy can be useful for relational problems where clients may want to change unwanted patterns of limiting beliefs, decrease triggers that arise in relationships and update overdeveloped or protective coping mechanisms learned in childhood.
What happens in an EMDR session?
EMDR uses the natural healing ability of your body. After a thorough assessment, you will be asked specific questions about a particular disturbing memory. Eye movements, like those during REM sleep, will be recreated simply by asking you to watch the psychologist’s fingers move side to side across your visual field. Sometimes, a bar of moving lights, buzzers or sounds are used instead. The eye movements will last for a short while and then stop. You will then be asked to report back on the experiences you have had during each of these sets of eye movements. Experiences during a session may include changes in thoughts, images, feelings, and body sensations. With repeated sets of eye movements, the memory tends to change in such a way that it loses its painful intensity and simply becomes a neutral memory of an event in the past. Other associated memories may also heal at the same time. This linking of related memories can lead to a dramatic and rapid improvement in many aspects of your life.
How will I feel during and after a session?
During reprocessing, people often make new connections and gain new insights. Occasionally during reprocessing, people remember experiences that they had forgotten about or suppressed. In addition, some people’s brains continue reprocessing after the session is over. While this is a good sign that the brain is continuing to heal itself, it can cause discomfort. Stabilisation techniques such as your calm place, breathing, tapping, naming 5 things in the room, body stretches, using an imaginary container, or exercise can be helpful in managing these disturbances. You also may notice your dreams changing or you may begin to have different responses to stimuli.
Will I remain in control and empowered?
During EMDR treatment, you will remain in control, fully alert and wide-awake. This is not a form of hypnosis, and you can stop the process at any time. Throughout the session, the psychologist will support and facilitate your own self-healing and intervene as little as possible. Reprocessing is usually experienced as something that happens spontaneously, and new connections and insights arise naturally from within. Most people experience EMDR as being a natural and very empowering therapy.
How long does treatment take?
EMDR can be a brief and focused treatment or part of a longer psychotherapy program. EMDR sessions usually take around 50 minutes or longer for intensive sessions.
Can anyone benefit from EMDR?
EMDR can accelerate therapy by resolving the impact of your past traumas and allowing you 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 of time. Nevertheless, you need to be aware of, and willing to experience, the strong feelings and disturbing thoughts, which sometimes occur during sessions. Those with limiting or special medical conditions (pregnancy, heart condition, ocular difficulties, etc) should consult their medical professionals before taking part in this therapeutic method.
For some people, this method may result in fuzzier memories or seeing the memory from a unique perspective following the treatment. If you are involved in a legal case and need to testify, please discuss this treatment with your lawyer and psychologist before starting EMDR therapy.
Organisations that recognise the efficacy of EMDR are:
• Medicare (2020)
• World Health Organisation (2013)
• The International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies (2009)
• National Health and Medical Research Council (2007)
• American Psychiatric Association (2004)
• US Department of Veteran Affairs and Department of Defense (2004)
• Phoenix Australia – Centre for Posttraumatic Mental Health
