EMDR stands for Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing.
That’s a lot of words that, when strung together, may sound a little intimidating.
But this therapeutic treatment has the potential to relive the distress you have in response traumatic memories.
Key Takeaways
- EMDR therapy is an effective way to reduce the emotional weight and distress associated with traumatic memories.
- EMDR uses bilateral eye movement and a step-by-step process to target harmful memories and lessen the emotional reaction to them.
- Dozens of studies have been done on the effectiveness of EMDR, and while it’s not a silver bullet, it works well for most people to curb the emotional impact of traumatic experiences.
What Are the Benefits of EMDR?
To help people understand the benefits of EMDR therapy, I like to start by introducing them to George. He’s our office giraffe. He’s stuffed and not very big.
Think about how it would feel to have a real giraffe sit on your chest. The weight would be crushing. You’d feel trapped, unable to breathe, and likely in fear of your life.
Now, think about what it would feel like to have George, a stuffed giraffe, sit on your chest. You would still have a giraffe on your chest, but this time without the associated distress or pain.
EMDR can’t make a traumatic event into something it’s not. A giraffe is still a giraffe. But for some people, it can take the memories and emotions associated with that event and downsize them from a life-size giraffe into something manageable… like George.
How Does EMDR Therapy Work?
During an EMDR session, we work to interact with both sides of your brain through bilateral eye movements with the goal of taking a traumatic memory that feels heavy and that causes emotional duress and shifting your perceptions of it to feel as light as an everyday event.
When you experience something traumatic, you store the memory of it in your brain. It’s stored as core thought, and surrounding that core thought, are the sensations associated with how you experienced that trauma.
For example, if I grow up in Meridian, Idaho, I feel safe around 99 percent of the time. There is almost never anything threatening my life.
If I go from Meridian Idaho to a combat situation in Iraq, and now there are people shooting at me, I am no longer safe. I realize that my life can be taken, and that’s traumatizing.
The core thought of “I am safe” gets replaced with “I am not safe.” And that new, traumatic thought has sense memories tied to it—the heat of my body armor, the smell of something burning, the noise of bombs going off… all of those sensations are wrapped around that core negative thought and the whole thing gets stored as a little spiky bundle in my brain.
That means new experiences that share sensations with that traumatic memory can call it to mind, causing a distressing emotional reaction, and reinforcing the negative response to that specific trigger.
You smell something burning and it takes you back to that moment of fear and trauma. In the process, it connects your traumatic experience with a new memory making the trauma even more weighty and complex.
EMDR Reduces the Weight of Traumatic Memories
With EMDR therapy, we target some of those specific harmful memories, identifying the negative cognitions that go with them, and reducing the intensity of the emotional reaction that’s been tied to them.
We start by establishing a safe place—a mental sanctuary you can return to if you need relief from the emotions associated with your traumatic memories.
After that, we’ll use bilateral eye movements as you revisit the memory, notice how you feel in response to, and then focus on a positive belief or response you’d rather have instead.
That’s an oversimplification, but it conveys the basic process. It can be an intense experience. It works quickly and effectively for most people, but it can be emotionally taxing in the moment.
If you choose to pursue EMDR therapy at Family Life Counseling Center, we’ll walk you through every step, making sure you understand each one before we proceed.
Is There a Time Limit on When to Use EMDR?
EMDR therapy can be effective on both recent and distant traumatic memories. Some people worry they may have missed their chance to use EMDR to lessen the weight of a traumatic experience. That’s not the case.
I’ve seen people of all ages and from all walks of life get good results from EMDR therapy even on memories that come from experiences that happened in the far distant past.
Its benefits are also not limited to past traumatic experiences. EMDR can help to relieve anxiety and stress about future events, as well. For example, if your child has high test anxiety, EMDR can be effective way to calm down the anxiety or other emotions related to those anticipated situations, so that your child can relax and perform at their best.
If you have questions about EMDR therapy or want to know if it’s right for you, contact us to learn more.