Why EMDR is a Game-Changer For Your Therapeutic Processing

What is EMDR therapy?

EMDR stands for Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing. It’s a form of psychotherapy that helps our brain heal from traumatizing experiences, such as PTSD, relational wounds, disasters and illnesses. 

“EMDR works on the assumption that negative thoughts, feelings, patterns, and beliefs are linked with unprocessed memories, or events. It is important to note that "unprocessed" does not always mean hidden or forgotten memories.” - says Brave therapist Roxanne Kruger. 

When we experience distressing moments, our brain can be triggered to relive them during other experiences in our lives. For instance, a war veteran may be triggered by hearing Fourth of July fireworks because the sounds are similar to what he or she heard in combat. 

EMDR helps patients re-process these painful experiences to help them bypass the anxiety and fear associated with the memory, building a wall over a person’s emotional pain. 

EMDR was created by Francine Shapiro. Shapiro noticed that her eyes would move back and forth when she recalled a painful experience, and discovered that this physical response was the way the body processed emotional stressors. 

How does EMDR therapy work?

Sometimes, our bodies experience events that are so disturbing that the brain is simply unable to process them and they get stuck in the right side of the brain. It’s kind of like how when you get a papercut and your body heals it in a week, but when a wood splinter is stuck in your finger, your body can’t heal without added help. 

EDMR works to unfreeze these stuck events by engaging the right side of the brain (where these memories are stuck) simultaneously with the left side of the brain through a process called bilateral stimulation. Says Roxanne, “Both hemispheres of the brain are activated through eye movements, sound, or other forms of bilateral stimulation while a client focuses on a disturbing memory, or belief about themselves.  The EMDR process allows the brain to activate different neural networks and desensitize disturbing information and then finding more adaptive beliefs.” This process works similarly to how your brain processes your day’s events during your REM sleep cycle. 

The EMDR experience does not remove the painful experience from your memory. You’ll still remember what happened, but the immediate emotional reaction will no longer be there. 

What should I Expect in EMDR Therapy?

An EMDR session can look different for everyone. There are 8 different phases in EMDR therapy which include aspects of getting to know more about a client's current and past concerns, identifying specific thoughts/beliefs/images or events to process through (sometimes called targets), learning new grounding skills, finding new adaptive beliefs.  Each session is about 55 minutes and is much different than traditional talk therapy.  Both client and counselor will agree on a specific target and focus exclusively on the target while it is paired with bilateral stimulation.  Some people will experience vivid images, past memories, both new and old thoughts, and a range of emotions.  Each person is different and will have a different experience. 

Why does EMDR work?

While EMDR therapy has not been around for a significant time, there are theories about why the therapy is so effective. First, the movement is relaxing. Having to focus on a steady, rhythmic motion such as a visual or auditory repetition can help a human calm down while discussing difficult circumstances. Secondly, it helps the left and the right hemispheres of the brain improve communication, as well as stimulates the parts of the brain that work in information processing. “The process replicates the natural healing process that happens during REM sleep,” explains Roxanne. 

Studies have shown that EMDR therapy can reduce symptoms in 78% of patients. Another study found that 100% of those determined as “single trauma victims” were no longer diagnosed with PTSD after six 50-minute sessions. 

The length of your EMDR treatment may vary, depending on your life’s circumstances and the specific issues you are hoping to resolve. Results from EMDR usually happen more rapidly than with traditional CBT or talk-based therapy. You can also combine EMDR with other forms of therapy and use it to target a specific issue as part of your personal growth process. 

Think you might want to try EMDR as part of your therapy process? The team at Brave GR has a trained therapist on staff who would love to work with you to implement this method as part of your sessions. Fill out the form here for more information!