What is EMDR?
When you experience a traumatic event, your brain cannot file the memory away properly and you feel like the experience is still happening long after it’s over. EMDR, which stands for Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing, is a form of treatment that can help you recover from traumatic stress. The approach eases your body’s reaction to trauma, allowing you to recall what happened to you without feeling overwhelmed. It helps your brain put the memory in its proper place so that you no longer feel stuck in the past.
EMDR uses eye movements (similar to those found in REM sleep) or other methods of bi-lateral stimulation to "jump start" the information processing that was previously stalled. With EMDR a person is able to reach a healthier and more adaptive resolution of the event(s) by processing the information like it was a normal memory. EMDR techniques also work to strengthen internal resources (sources of internal emotional strength) by pairing bi-lateral stimulation with images and ideas with positive messages, such as safety, courage, confidence, love, and forgiveness.
Dr. Francine Shapiro founded EMDR therapy in 1987. It was initially used to treat PTSD in Vietnam war veterans. After successfully helping veterans heal from their traumatic memories, it has since been used to treat other forms of trauma like rejection, betrayal, abuse, neglect, and domestic violence.
EMDR seems to help the brain reprocess the trapped memories in such a way that normal information processing is resumed. Therapists often use EMDR to help clients uncover and process beliefs that developed as the result of relational traumas, or childhood abuse and/or neglect. For a more detailed explanation please visit the EMDR Institute, Inc.
Benefits include:
Greater emotional regulation
A decrease in or alleviation of physiological traumatic responses including nightmares, flashbacks, intrusive thoughts and hypervigilance
Strengthening of positive beliefs about oneself
The best practice for EMDR is to meet with your EMDR therapist for weekly sessions. While it is healing, trauma work can be difficult. We want to make sure you are as supported as possible. Meeting weekly also means we can move through the work faster and meet your therapeutic goals in a smaller time frame.