Have you ever heard of EMDR therapy ? Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing therapy (EMDR) is a newer form of therapy that was developed to help people with PTSD and other trauma based disorders. First developed in the late 1980’s, it has been studied since to show that it can be helpful for individuals who experience severe symptoms as a result of their trauma history.
What is EMDR?
EMDR is a form of psychotherapy that involves moving your eyes in specific patterns as instructed by a clinician while you’re guided through processing traumatic memories and events. The idea is that by processing the memories in this way, the brain can relearn how to store them in a way that is less likely to result in symptoms to the individual. EMDR does this by relying on the Adaptive Information Processing (AIP) model, which we’ll discuss in more detail in the next blog post.
One reason it is popular with individuals with a trauma history is that it doesn’t require going into detail about the traumatic event(s), making therapy less triggering overall. This also means that therapy can done more quickly, since the individual doesn’t have to work up as slowly to processing their trauma as they would need to in more traditional therapy settings. Another reason people tend to like EMDR over traditional CBT therapy for trauma is because it doesn’t require homework to be done out of sessions. All the work is done in-session with a clinician. This makes it adherence easier for many people.
How does EMDR work?
EMDR works on the premise that traumatic memories are stored in our brains differently from regular memories. This makes it more difficult for the brain to actually fully process them and why different cues in our environment can be triggers for unpleasant memories, flashbacks, or other reactions that can interfere with our daily lives.
A target memory is chosen to be the focus of the therapy. If an individual has more than one traumatic memory, they’re guided to process one at a time. They then work with the clinician to reprocess the memory in a way that is more adaptive and results in fewer negative symptoms.
Who is EMDR for?
EMDR has been studied and found effective in a large population of people. Since its development, it has undergone dozens of clinical trials to test its efficacy and effectiveness. Of course, some of the obvious populations that most people think of for PTSD are combat veterans and sexual assault survivors. However, many people who have experienced trauma and don’t meet the strict criteria for PTSD can also benefit greatly from EMDR therapy.
If you’re someone who has experienced a traumatic event and is experiencing distressing symptoms because of that event, EMDR can be a helpful tool for addressing those symptoms. It has been shown to be helpful for adolescents and adults and even for children.
EMDR has also been used outside of trauma, however it is less studied in these uses. It is possible to find clinicians who use EMDR who will also use it to treat things like substance use disorder, depression, and other mental health disorders.
