What is EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing)?
Sometimes people experience things which are difficult or disturbing, often intense in nature. That is essentially the definition of what personal trauma is. Thinking in terms of psychological trauma, let’s break this down into two categories:
“Large T” traumas are life experiences clinicians consider necessary to diagnose Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD.) Examples of these are: natural disasters; combat; accidents; loss of a loved one; catastrophic illnesses such as cancer; physical, sexual, or mental/emotional abuse.
Small “t” traumas are more common incidents or experiences in our daily lives, those that make us feel unsafe, unloved or as if we have lost control of some aspect of our lives—possibly even a loss of hope. Examples may include: bullying, verbal abuse by peers in school or colleagues in the workplace, or losses of any kind.
The mind has a built-in mechanism that assists us in making sense of experiences that feel senseless. Francine Shapiro who developed EMDR, describes this mechanism as the Adaptive Information Processing (AIP) system in the brain. This mechanism aides us in processing difficult, disturbing, and emotionally intense memories, images, etc. During rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, our brains attempt to re-process things that happen during our waking/conscious state. The brain reprocesses the events, images, or memories so they no longer bother us, allowing us to move past the incident in a mental/emotional sense.
It may be helpful to think of the Adaptive Information Processing system like the operating system on your computer or smartphone/tablet. Both process data or information. When trauma occurs in the brain, the AIP is impacted, making it difficult for the individual to move past the event, image, memory, or all the above. Trauma is like a virus or malware which impedes the operating system’s ability to fully function. If left unaddressed, the computer slows, and performance suffers. The computer can fail to function at all if no corrective measures are made. Francine Shapiro asserts that most of the difficult things that happen to us get processed naturally in our brain in what she describes as “adaptive resolution,” which could be considered the anti-virus software of the brain.
When trauma occurs, our brain isn’t always able to process the events, memories, images, etc., successfully. If a strong emotional component is involved, our brains experience difficulty resolving the internal conflicts. Whether we have experienced a “Large T” or a “small t” trauma, our brain is sometimes unable to adapt or assimilate current life experiences when it is triggered or reminded of the past trauma/difficult experiences.
EMDR therapy is the therapeutic approach which replicates our brain’s own natural healing process. EMDR jump starts the brain’s Adaptive Information Processing system to resolve the blockage which is actual physical matter that accumulates in the deep folds/recesses of the brain when trauma occurs to the individual.
By replicating bilateral stimulation through eye movements or tones, tactile, or musical cues, the blockage can be dissolved so that those memories, events, images, etc., can be properly stored into the neural networks of the brain. Essentially, EMDR therapy repairs the data so that the individual can respond to future events and experiences in an adaptive fashion rather than a dysfunctional one. Past memories, events, or images no longer hold the raw emotional pain they did before EMDR. They no longer impede your ability to live your life fully. Now, you are free to move past the trauma!
TAKE AWAY POINTS
Your brain heals itself naturally.
You are in control. Greg Walsh facilitates the therapy, but you ultimately choose when to start and stop processing the items which are being targeted/treated in EMDR therapy.
You do not need to say much during EMDR. No long explanation of the difficult memory, event, or disturbing image is needed in most instances.
The healing is permanent! There is no relapse. Once the memories are processed, the work is done.
Processing an individual’s trauma through traditional talk therapy often takes many months or longer. With EMDR therapy, trauma can often be successfully processed and resolved in markedly fewer sessions.
A strong body of psychological research indicates that individuals whose depression and anxiety is not genetic experience a marked reduction in their symptoms. In some cases, their depression and/or anxiety goes into remission!
Thank you for your interest in this life-changing therapy. Contact us with any additional questions about EMDR therapy.