Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing (EMDR)

Our “fight or flight” instinct works for us without asking permission, sometimes that instinct sticks around although it's not needed.   EMDR can help your brain learn the danger has passed and it is okay to move on.

So if something is weighing you down, it doesn’t matter what you call it; trauma, impact, baggage, or stuff.  Remember healing is possible.  EMDR can help.   

Can you think of a time when you were genuinely terrified? If you can remember it calmly now, that’s a good indication you’ve healed from the experience. You feel assured, knowing the bad experience is in the past. In the best of circumstances, our brain and body work together to restore self-control after danger, so we feel safe again. We may even gain more confidence, too.

Sometimes, however, the nervous system counteracts in ways that block the resolution process. For some people, a terrifying event imparts an ongoing sense of danger, even after the threat has passed. These people may seem highly reactive or often anxious. It’s as if the nervous system continues to perform on high alert.

An ongoing struggle to restore a sense of safety and calm may be a sign of trauma. If you keep having trouble coping with intrusive memories, harmful or scary thoughts, or self-doubt, trauma may be a factor in your life. That’s when working with a therapist trained in EMDR is advisable.

Here are essential questions and answers about EMDR and its effectiveness to heal trauma:

1. Why is it called EMDR?

EMDR is named for the eye movements that therapist Francine Shapiro first discovered in 1987, which relieved her distress. She then developed a whole system for resolving disturbing thoughts that other therapists could use. However, as Shapiro has stated on more than one occasion, she would rename it if she could, because other factors work besides eye movements. She would call it “reprocessing therapy.”

2. Who can benefit from EMDR?

EMDR can assist people who struggle with a wide range of stressful issues. Currently, therapists mostly use it to reduce or eliminate symptoms of trauma.
Trauma can come from unresolved experiences and feelings that threaten your sense of safety in the world. EMDR can help with issues that haven’t improved with other therapies.

3. Why does EMDR work in treating trauma?

EMDR can help reduce stress symptoms associated with trauma, so they interfere less with daily life. Trauma can come from a single apparent incident, or stressful conditions endured for a long time. Many people are plagued by symptoms of trauma but don't realize it. 

Trauma symptoms may develop after experiencing something dangerous, like a life-threatening event, or witnessing one. Being in a car accident, in combat, or watching someone get beaten or injured are examples of obvious danger. Some people call this “Big T” trauma.

Less visible sources of trauma can alter your sense of safety just as much. These include being bullied, feeling unsafe or rejected, or being in a relationship that has left you feeling isolated or bad about yourself. Growing up with substance abuse, domestic violence, or chronic illness are more examples of often unidentified sources of trauma.

Some people call less apparent sources of trauma “Little T” trauma. However, it’s essential to realize that size doesn’t matter. Trauma is highly individualized. Any trauma can affect the body and mind.

Trauma symptoms can compel people to use behavior that is numbing, self-harming, or compulsive because they don’t know any other way to get relief; they need to function each day.

EMDR was developed to help stimulate new pathways in the brain that allow a person to resolve trauma, regardless of the source.

4. Can a specific event be treated with EMDR?

Some people experience trauma symptoms after a specific event, for example, a car accident. A person with single-incident trauma might experience:

• Inability to feel safe getting in a car again
• Emotional overwhelm going past a particular intersection
• Terror hearing the same song that was playing when the crash happened
• Re-triggered fears from related sights or smells (like the smell of gasoline)
• Sleeping issues: sleeping too much, not sleeping enough; night terrors
• Flashbacks or difficulty concentrating during the day
• Fears or anxiety triggered by related people, places, things or situations
• Depression or sadness

Trauma affects all our senses. The sight, sounds, smells, or sensations on the skin can create deep memories of a situation when the trauma occurred and can also trigger the emotions felt at the time. Living with these symptoms and coping behaviors may seem unavoidable. But people do find relief when the cause of the stress – the unresolved trauma – is resolved. EMDR helps the brain make new connections in the nervous system to process the trauma fully.

5. Can EMDR treat trauma symptoms without an identifiable trigger event?

Trauma shows up in a vast range of symptoms. People develop very personal coping mechanisms for dealing with stress, even if they can’t trace their stress response to a single event. Coping mechanisms can take almost any form:

• Drug use
• Overwork
• Eating disorders
• Constant worry
• Poor impulse control
• Chronic anger
• Compulsive gaming
• Self-harming behavior
• Behavior to sabotage relationships

These are just a small sample of ways people try to cope with overwhelming stress as best they know-how. EMDR can help resolve these symptoms by assisting a person in noticing negative beliefs that are blocking the ability to lower stress.

6. Can you describe how EMDR works in the brain?

EMDR is a series of 8 steps. The reprocessing steps use bilateral stimulation. An EMDR therapist guides a person in moving their eyes back and forth or feeling pulsars, or even simple taping, while the person re-thinks the distressing thought or memory.

EMDR works by activating both the logical and emotional sides of your brain to help you see a fuller, more precise picture of the situation.

In everyday life, the strong emotional reactions of trauma usually shut down your ability to think. When you are responding with emotional intensity, the rational part of your brain temporarily goes offline. This is a normal survival response. But it can make recovering from the survival response more complicated sometimes.

With preparation and with the bilateral stimulus in therapy, EMDR helps the brain heal itself by making stronger connections between the rational and emotional parts of your mind, which helps make sense out of what happened and put the feeling of danger entirely in the past.

7. Is it true that EMDR works?

Research shows that EMDR can make healing happen faster than other therapies or no treatment at all. The EMDR Institute reports:

• Multiple studies show that 84%-90% of single-incident trauma survivors became free of symptoms after only three 90-minute sessions.
• For combat veterans with PTSD, one study showed 77% became symptom-free after 12 EMDR sessions.
• In another study of people with phobias about going to the dentist, over 83% were making regular dentist visits one year later after three sessions of EMDR therapy.

EMDR helps your nervous system activate a natural healing process so that you can resolve the trauma according to your specific needs.

8. Does EMDR work all by itself, or do people also need other kinds of therapy?

EMDR can work all by itself. If a person has good social support and healthy relationship support outside of therapy, it may not be necessary for them to have a variety of ongoing treatments. While it is possible to see a therapist just for EMDR, it’s not typical to use only one method. Better results often come from using EMDR with other therapies. EMDR is not exclusive of other approaches or methods. We can use EMDR as part of an integrated treatment plan.

9. What kind of preparation is needed in the use of EMDR therapy?

If a new client asks about EMDR, I explain that we won’t expect to start in the next session.

Preparation work and time are necessary to set the stage for EMDR. First, we need to know if that is an appropriate methodology for the person.

A good EMDR therapist will check to make sure that a person can regulate their own emotion, so they don’t become re-traumatized with the process of targeting disturbing experiences to process.

We work ahead of time to build up the client’s ability and resources to manage stress. Then if we decide to use EMDR, a client is prepared to respond well.

10. What can a person reasonably expect when EMDR is done correctly?

Some people see small changes after one session. Others see a dramatic difference in how well they can handle situations that used to unnerve them. Some people need multiple sessions before they notice a difference. It’s important to understand that results vary significantly from person to person.

If EMDR is appropriately done, you shouldn’t continue to have symptoms disturbing enough to bother you still. It might take some individuals longer, depending on how strongly connected the symptoms are within your nervous system. Eventually, you should be able to get on with living and not feel a level of discomfort, intrusive thoughts, or panic still controlling you.

The goal of EMDR isn’t to forget the painful memory, but to take the emotional reactivity and feelings of being overwhelmed out of it.

BONUS:  EMDR can also be conducted virtually.