Eye-Movement Desensitization Reprocessing (EMDR)
Eye-Movement Desensitization Reprocessing (EMDR) is a treatment model gaining rapid momentum in the world of psychotherapy. The model was created by Francine Shapiro in 1987 and aims to address symptoms of PTSD resulting from trauma, as well as “adverse life events”- an event or experience that may not be viewed as traumatic per se, but was scary, humiliating, confusing, or left an emotional bruise in some way. EMDR uses something called “bilateral stimulation” (alternating eye movement, tapping, or sounds) to activate the Adaptive Information Processing (AIP) center in the brain. Think about how our eyes move back and forth during REM sleep. REM is the phase of sleep that allows us to process and consolidate what we’ve experienced that day. It’s almost like our brain is a computer and REM is a de-fragmentation process that occurs while we sleep. This is similar to what the bilateral stimulation (typically eye-movement) does during EMDR. Basically, the bilateral stimulation activates the AIP- the area of the brain where rational thinking and trauma processing occurs- which allows us to reprocess the trauma in real-time but in a way that allows us to make sense of the traumatic experience. Similar to the self-healing that takes place when we cut our finger, the AIP is sort of a self-healing mechanism in our psyche.
During trauma and adverse life events the AIP often shuts down and the fear center of the brain kicks in initiating our “fight or flight” system. When this happens the trauma isn’t processed appropriately because the AIP, the rational part of the brain, is no longer in control. Instead the fear center of the brain takes over causing the traumatic event to be stored dysfunctionally in our brain in it’s “affective state”. What this means is, all the thoughts, feelings, sights, sounds, and even smells that were present at the time of the trauma are locked away in our nervous system. This explains why people with PTSD sometimes experience olfactory hallucinations (smelling something that isn’t actually there) years after the traumatic event that involved that very same smell took place.
So what does a typical EMDR session look like? First, the therapist gathers information about the traumatic event in a way that is not triggering to the client. In fact, one of the major perks of the EMDR model is the therapist doesn’t even need to know specific details of the trauma. This is unlike other models that treat trauma such as Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TFCBT) which involve the client sharing a detailed narrative of the trauma. Talking about specific details of a trauma can sometimes cause a client to become triggered and emotionally dysregulated, which can actually be harmful to the client. Once the therapist and client have identified the memory to be reprocessed the therapist helps the client determine the negative cognition(belief) that is connected to the trauma. Essentially, a negative cognition is a negative self-statement the client has adopted in response to the trauma. Some common examples include “It's my fault”, “I’m powerless”, or “I’m inadequate”. Once the memory and negative cognition have been identified the therapist asks the client to hold the memory and negative cognition together in their mind while simultaneously engaging in bilateral stimulation (eyes, tones, tapping). This activates the AIP and allows the client to reprocess the memory in real-time with the rational, adaptive part of the brain online and active. Throughout the course of processing the client is asked to share what they’re noticing during each pass of bilateral stimulation. Over time, the negative aspects of the trauma are desensitized and the client begins having new, more adaptive, healing insights and perspectives about the trauma. This leads to a positive shift in the negative cognition, reduction in emotional distress, and improvement in symptoms.
EMDR can be a powerful tool in your journey toward healing. Schedule a complimentary consultation to see if EMDR is the right treatment model for you.
~Kara
