Who Can Benefit From Emdr?

EMDR, Eye Movement, Desensitization and Reprocessing therapy helps children and adults of all ages. Therapists use EMDR therapy to address a wide range of challenges:

What is EMDR?


EMDR stands for Eye Movement Desensitization and Processing.  It is a structured therapy that encourages the patient to focus briefly on the trauma memory while the therapist guides you through bilateral stimulation (typically eye movements or tones or taps) desensitizing trauma or emotionally charged past experiences, which is associated with a reduction in the vividness and emotion associated with the trauma memories. EMDR therapy is an extensively researched, effective psychotherapy method, is currently one of the most researched methods of contemporary psychotherapy, proven to help people recover from trauma and PTSD symptoms. Diagnostic imaging research has documented positive changes in the brain during these sessions.  Ongoing research supports positive clinical outcomes, showing EMDR therapy as a helpful treatment for anxiety, depression, OCD, chronic pain, addictions, and other distressing life experiences (Maxfield, 2019). EMDR therapy has even been superior to some medications in trauma treatment (Van der Kolk et al., 2007). Shapiro and Forrest (2016) share that EMDR therapists in 130 countries have successfully treated millions.

EMDR is based on a model called the AIP, Adaptive Information Processing Model which posits that the development of symptoms and conditions related to traumatic experiences, such as OCD, anxiety, depression, addictions, etc, are a result of maladaptive encoding,  and incomplete processing of traumatic events.  What this means is your experience(s) has been stored in your brain in such a way that it causes at the very least, discomfort if not suffering.  A combination of our genetic predisposition and our experiences create memory networks that are stored in our minds and bodies.  These memory networks dictate how we experience the world - our relationship to others and ourselves, in the present.  They are the basis of our beliefs, attitudes, and perceptions.  Most memories are stored "functionally" - they help or support us., but intense or traumatic memories tend to be stored without a coherent sense of time.  This can lead us to feel like the past traumatic event is about to happen again at any moment, or is currently happening in the present or is uncomfortably close by.  As a result, you can have strong reactions to  present "stimuli" - feeling triggered, with hyperarousal and/or somatic symptoms (body reactions) because the memory network has not been stored "functionally", in a way that serves you.

​Our brains have a natural way to recover from traumatic memories and events. This process involves communication between the amygdala (the alarm signal for stressful events), the hippocampus (which assists with learning, including memories about safety and danger), and the prefrontal cortex (which analyzes and controls behavior and emotion).While many times traumatic experiences can be managed and resolved spontaneously, they may not be processed without help.
EMDR helps you process the "unprocessed" memory so that you can know and feel that the traumatic event or intense experience is in the past and you are safe in the present.  The triggers of the present no longer have the same emotional charge or effect.  You can react to what is happening "now" instead of having strong reactions due to past events.
Unlike other therapies, EMDR does not ask you to go into the details of the past traumatic event - you do not have to relive it from the present moment, yet EMDR has the impact of releasing the emotional charge connected to it, leaving you empowered, feeling in control, improving the quality of your relationships to others, yourself and the world at large.  Essentially, clients report feeling a sense of freedom and lightness and find themselves more fully engaged in the parts of the world that support them.

EMDR WIDELY RECOGNIZED AS A EFFECTIVE APPROACH

The American Psychiatric Association, the American Psychological Association, the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the U.K. National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, the U.S. Dept. of Veterans Affairs/Dept. of Defense, The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, and the World Health Organization among many other national and international organizations recognize EMDR therapy as an effective treatment. More specific information on treatment guidelines can be found on our EMDR Treatment Guidelines page.

The mind can often heal itself naturally, in the same way as the body does. Much of this natural coping mechanism occurs during sleep, particularly during rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. Francine Shapiro developed Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) in 1987, utilizing this natural process in order to successfully treat Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Since then, EMDR has been used to effectively treat a wide range of mental health problems.

What happens when you have experienced trauma

Most of the time your body routinely manages new information and experiences without you being aware of it. However, when something out of the ordinary occurs and you are traumatised by an overwhelming event (e.g. a car accident) or by being repeatedly subjected to distress (e.g. childhood neglect), your natural coping mechanism can become overloaded. This overloading can result in disturbing experiences remaining frozen in your brain or being "unprocessed". Such unprocessed memories and feelings are stored in the limbic system of your brain in a "raw" and emotional form, rather than in a verbal “story” mode. This limbic system maintains traumatic memories in an isolated memory network that is associated with emotions and physical sensations, and which are disconnected from the brain’s cortex where we use language to store memories. The limbic system’s traumatic memories can be continually triggered when you experience events in the present that are similar to the difficult experiences you have been through. Often the memory itself is long forgotten, but the painful feelings such as anxiety, panic, anger or despair are continually triggered in the present. Your ability to live in the present and learn from new experiences can therefore become inhibited. EMDR helps create the connections between your brain’s memory networks, enabling your brain to process the traumatic memory in a very natural and healing way.

a scientific explanation

When you experience a traumatic event, the hypothalaus releases nuerotransmitters that alert the body that something threatening is happening and you need to prepare to protect yourself.  Prepare to fight for your survival, flee to protect yourself, or freeze and hope to go unnoticed.  This happens any time the brain perceives threat to the body or mind.  This could be in a violent situation or when standing in front of a crowd and not feeling prepared for your speech.  This is a protective instinct from the brain to keep you safe.

When the hypothalamus releases the neurotransmitters, the pituitary releases adrenocorticotrophin.  This causes the adrenal gland to release adrenalin and cortisol.  The adrenalin and cortisol give the body energy and strength.  This is what allows a person to fight off an attacker, lift a heavy object or run more than they could in a normal situation.

Next the hypothalamus signals the release of norepinephrine and glutamate.  This combination of actions in the brain and neurochemicals that are released is called the stress response.

It is important to note that the brain's ability to do this process is vital in the body's ability to stay safe.  When you come across a bear in the woods or someone breaks into your home, you want your stress response to be activated so you can keep yourself safe.  When the stress response is activated, the brain is functioning in the limbic portion, the survival part of the brain.  There is no time to stop and rationalize all parts of the tsituation, there is only time to act to stay safe.  Again, in isolated traumatic. events, this is vital.  But if this is part of daily living, you will have long term eleveated levels of adrenalin, cortisol, norepinephrine and glutamate.  In this ongoingly heightened sgtress response that does not decrease, the brain is constantly alert to situations and factors that could impact safety.

what is an emdr session like

EMDR utilizes the natural healing ability of your body. After a thorough assessment, you will be asked specific questions about a particular disturbing memory. Eye movements, similar to those during REM sleep, will be recreated simply by asking you to watch the therapist's finger moving backwards and forwards across your visual field. Sometimes, a bar of moving lights or headphones is 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 and feelings. 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.
CAN EMDR THERAPY BE DONE WITHOUT A TRAINED EMDR THERAPIST
EMDR therapy is a mental health intervention. As such, it should only be offered by properly trained and licensed mental health clinicians. EMDRIA does not condone or support indiscriminate uses of EMDR therapy such as "do-it-yourself" virtual therapy.