What is EMDR?

What is EMDR Therapy and how is it helpful for trauma?

EMDR Treatment is a world changing therapy for treatment of trauma, depression, anxiety, eating disorders and other mental health symptoms. EMDR stands for Eye Movement Desensitization & Reprocessing. It was developed by Francine Shapiro in 1987 as she was working on the biggest immediate need for anyone with a trauma, panic and insomnia. The immediate need is to find ways to stop the trauma flashbacks from invading sleep and every moment of a victim’s life. The steps in EMDR help to allow the mind to notice the event of a trauma, or ruminating thought and reduce it’s toxicity on the mind, body, soul, spirit. The event in question did occur but you can teach your body that in your waking or sleeping NOW moments you are safe, you are kind, you are no longer the victim tied to that nightmare. You will sleep again. You will cherish others and be cherished by others. You do not have to live in 24/7 fear. Your prayers are heard and you can sleep through the night without those panic events or sensations.

There are 8 phases of EMDR therapy. 1. History taking and planning, 2. Preparation: build the skills and resources to begin EMDR treatment, 3. Assessment what is the focus of the EMDR treatment agreed upon by therapist and client. Keep zooming in on this every session. 4. desensitization phase use of Bilateral stimulation to reduce the emotional intensity of the trauma memory, 5.Installation Replacing the negative cognitive belief with a positive cognitive belief.  6. Body scan. This is where mediation and somatic experiencing meet. Notice how you notice what is occurring in the body on a physical level.  Notice where any emotion lands in the body. More or less tension, weight.  7. Closure how to end the session with use of containment strategies that hold between one session to the next.  This is your mental health tool box that you fill with EMDR tools.  Power lift these daily by practicing on eas stuff so when you need them you know how to use them.  8.Reevaluation. In the follow-up session to any EMDR, there is a review of what worked within that prior session.  EMDR treatment is powerful because it goes to your strongest, earliest distresses; into the unconscious to seek out those related trauma triggers, neural networks. A web of connections. As Donald Hebb stated in 1949, “neurons that fire together wire together.”    These steps can’t take place in one session.   Client’s need to create a therapeutic bond so they can trust their therapist, they can not just emotionally divulge the dark contents of the mind.  Psychotherapy is based on trust, which is earned and learned. Ask basic skills are a developed the client can go from dipping their toe to doing a deep dive in the proverbial waters of treatment. 

There are several types of EMDR therapy;  Attachment Focused, somatic, and basic EMDR.  Those with insecure attachment styles suffered due to chronic relational traumas such as abuse, neglect, abandonment or mistreatment.  At issue, are those intense emotions and how they are expressed in the body during standard EMDR.  Not every person is a good candidate for this treatment for this reason.  There are other contra-indications such as medical stability/approval by your MD, some eye conditions, and seizure disorders. 

The resource tapping is an important element of AF-EMDR. This means your therapist will teach you Laurel Parnell’s strategies for creating grounding techniques.  The AF-EMDR protocol needs to be adapted to the need of clients who did grow up in a family with a securely attachment styles.  When we talk about things with the body we speak of the “practice of medicine”.  This is also true for psychotherapy.  The feedback you share with your therapist shows you their investment with you, their attentiveness to tracking your emotional distress. Seeking for you not to be suspended in a grief or in that distress for long periods of time. The goal is to process through a stuck point with the purpose of reduction of the “charge” those raw emotions.  Thirdly there is a repeated review of how the process of EMDR is effective in the session and between sessions.  Are the symptoms reducing?  Is your insomnia diminishing?  Are the targets of treatment noticeably reducing such that there are evidence-based changes in your life?  If any treatment is not working for you tell your therapist what part does not make sense.  Engagement is required for this treatment.  EMDR requires big work on your part. It requires you to review the worst negative snap shot which you are already reliving in your flashbacks.  Imagine that diminishing.  So, imagine seeing a negative “snapshot” but that it does not cause you to go from 0 to 100 in 6 seconds, with diminished symptoms of distress. Instead, you see it as an event which occurred, but without the violence, fear or dissociation.  So, the key to all treatment with trauma is the repair of these bonds.  Training for EMDR includes a year of weekly/monthly trainings which require therapists to present case presentations to demonstrate the therapist is practicing ethical treatment.  These treatments must follow the protocol.  Keep client’s safe, watch for lack of emotional ability to process with EMDR and to be tracked, and fully supported by therapist throughout the EMDR process over the year or more of sessions.  You can graduate early. You will know you have met your goal by printing it out and saying I am done. This was my goal. There can be many goals but you get to choose what you have energy, and resources to do the work.   EMDR is this like this bitter-sweet pill it works but it is really hard to swallow some days.  The glimmers of relief make staying in the work, worth it.  The future can be healed and you feel connected to your feelings, our body, your mind, your spirit, your soul, your will and emotions.

Somatic-EMDR, what is it and how is it different from other types of EMDR?

Somatic-EMDR engages people to use in the body responses in the process of the questioning process to express in a physical way the needs of the body.  To speak, to touch, or with use of Peter Levine’s Vibram sings immediate feedback to the body. In these fluid motions, with the use of positive cognitive self-statements, the wiring of brain and body offer increased sensations, a release of the body tension to hear, feel, express and verbalize. It is the pairing of all these complex steps, and listening to the needs of the body.  These EMDR treatment is especially good for kids, those with verbally diminishes skills or complex trauma or complex mental health diagnoses, such as schizophrenia. A skilled psychotherapist is taught to seek ongoing feedback from the client that you feel this therapy is gaining traction and making the progress each week you need to feel more connected to your body in safe, positive, meaningful way, a venue in which to fully express and grow back into unity with your body, in a healing way. Find your wholeness.

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