What is EMDR?
Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR) is a type of structured therapy that helps individuals resolve the effects of trauma and reduce the physical or emotional discomfort of those memories. It was first developed for the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) but it has since been scientifically shown to also be effective for a range of mental health issues such as depression, anxiety, addictions and OCD.
The 8 stages of EMDR focus on helping the brain to heal itself after trauma. While you will discuss with your therapist how and what to identify as the target memory or event, there is significantly less talking involved with EMDR and it can be completed in fewer sessions than other types of talk psychotherapy.
How does EMDR work?
Traumatic events that are not fully or properly processed can cause post-traumatic stress. When our memories are triggered, we experience symptoms related to this distress physically, emotionally, or even cognitively. EMDR works by stimulating your brain through side to side eye-movements (bilateral stimulation) as you recall the specific memory. The bilateral stimulation mimics what happens when we experience rapid-eye movements in our sleep (REM sleep) which is how our brain usually processes and integrates information from the day. In this way, fragmented or unintegrated memories that we feel ‘stuck’ with can be finally processed and the heavy distressing emotions around it can be released.
There are 8 phases to EMDR:
Phase 1/History taking and treatment planning: Treatment goals and a target memory is jointly identified by the client and therapist.
Phase 2/Preparation: The treatment process is outlined to the client. Inner resources and a calm state will be identified so that it can accessed by the client if needed.
Phase 3/Assessment: The client’s maladaptive and adaptive beliefs as well as the sensations, images, or feelings associated with the target memory are identified. Baseline measurements of how the client feels is obtained and used to measure the progress of the treatment.
Phase 4/Desensitisation: As the client brings up the target memory, the therapist will begin bilateral stimulation. This phase is when the memory is re-processed until the measurement of distress reaches a specific lowered level.
Phase 5: Installation: The traumatic memory is paired with the adaptive belief about oneself using bilateral stimulation.
Phase 6/Body Scan: The client once again brings up the target memory and the adaptive belief while being guided through a body scan exercise. This allows for the client to check for any residual distress or symptoms in the body.
Phase 7/Closure: Client and therapist acknowledge the end of the treatment and prepares the client for the processing that may naturally continue to happen on its own in the client’s brain after the end of the session.
Phase 8/Evaluation: At the following session, the therapist will check in with the client on whether the processing has been and continues to be effective.
What does EMDR feel like?
While each person’s experience of EMDR will be slightly different, the individual is more ‘passively’ involved while the brain does more of ‘the work’. You will be encouraged to allow any images, feelings, or thoughts related to the identified memory to naturally come up and pass as if you were watching scenes from a movie or the scenery from a moving train. There is nothing in particular you have to do during those moments except notice and report back what has come up for you. Sometimes, people may feel intense reactions to the images or feelings especially during the Desensitisation phase. This is natural and a sign that the memory is being processed. Clients are encouraged to continue noticing and to ‘go with it’.
While the memory of the event does not go away, EMDR allows people to feel greater peace and calm around it. They may find that they are able to recall the memory with far less physical and emotional distress and are better able to remain in the present. For others, it can be a reduction in somatic symptoms where the tension or heaviness in their body releases or lightens.
Who can it benefit?
EMDR is often used to treat those who have experienced past trauma whether the traumatic event is an isolated incident or something that happened chronically over many years. Individuals may also find EMDR to be helpful in treating current triggers or future anxieties. By reducing the intensity of somatic symptoms of distress as well as maladaptive negative self-beliefs, clients can feel more at ease within themselves and able to be present without getting stuck in the past or taken away by future worries.
For more information on EMDR, below are some helpful links for further reading/watching:
Introduction to EMDR therapy by EMDR International Association (Video)
FAQs of EMDR by EMDR Institute
A collection of links to EMDR Research