What is EMDR therapy?
EMDR, or eye movement desensitization and reprocessing, is a method of psychotherapy that eye movements, tapping, or rhythmic sounds to treat conditions by traumatic events, such as violence, combat, or loss of a limb.EMDR therapy was created by Francine Shapiro in 1987 to help clients cope with post-traumatic stress disorder. Over time, the method’s range of applications has expanded.
EMDR is considered a scientifically proven method of working with experiences of isolated traumatic events (violence, traffic accidents, witnessing a person’s death), the consequences of psychological trauma (phobias, fears), etc. The method involves addressing a specific traumatic situation for a short period of time and simultaneously focusing on an external visual (eye movement), tactile (patting on the shoulder), or auditory (a certain sound) stimulus.
Why EMDR Works
This is still unclear. But there are hypotheses.
If the memory cannot process information about a traumatic event, and some triggers force a person to it, he experiences past feelings and emotions, experiences stress and pain.
But EMDR makes memories less painful. The thing is that external stimuli the brain get distracted. A person cannot simultaneously focus on them and internal experiences. Therefore, the memory fades, loses emotionality and completeness. The assessment of the event changes, a person can cope with it: stops feeling fear, anger , phantom pain.
According to Francine Shapiro, EMDR helps to learn certain lessons from the past, reduce the destructive reaction in a trigger situation, and find a model of behavior in the future that will allow you to perceive the previously traumatic experience more calmly or even more positively.
In what situations can EMDR therapy help?
Despite the fact that the method is relatively new and its mechanism is not fully understood, dozens of studies have already that have confirmed that it helps. To date, EMDR to be effective in treating conditions such as:
- post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD);
- depression;
- anxiety disorder;
- obsessive-compulsive disorder;
- eating disorders.
This method of therapy helps to identify in communication with the client exactly those situations, experiences, destructive states that cause discomfort in his life. For example, this could be a negative behavioral and/or emotional reaction to communication with people or a certain person.
There are very few contraindications to EMDR, but they do exist: epilepsy, psychotic states, inability to tolerate high levels of anxiety during and between psychotherapeutic sessions.
How EMDR therapy works
EMDR therapy of eight stages.
1. Collection of anamnesis
The therapist first asks the person questions about his or her condition and takes a medical history to determine treatment goals.
2. Preparation
After collecting the anamnesis, the specialist explains the method, teaches how exactly to move the eyes and what to do with the hands. Also at this stage, practices for combating stress are worked out, for example, the “safe place” exercise. This technique is needed to create some space in the head in which it will be good and calm. In a difficult situation, you can mentally move into it to reduce stress and achieve a resource state.
3. Evaluation
Now you need to choose a target memory, evaluate what feelings it evokes, and what positive belief you want to come to in the future.
4. Desensitization
The therapist helps to activate the memory to determine what the person felt, what images came to mind, how the memory resonates in the body.
5. Memory processing
At this stage, the psychologist will ask you to focus on a positive belief that needs to be created. This could be something that was created in the third stage, or something that arose on its own in the fourth stage.
6. Body scanning
The patient should now focus on the physical sensations throughout the body, especially those that arise when thinking about the situation. This stage helps determine overall progress: sessions will be needed until the symptoms completely disappear.
7. Closing
At this stage, the therapist may suggest relaxation techniques to help maintain the progress made.
8. Evaluation of the result
At the next session, the psychologist will ask about the memories that were worked on during the last meeting. If they no longer cause suffering, it may be time to move on to new goals.
How quickly can EMDR help?
A total of 6 to 12 sessions, 1 to 2 times a week, may be required, but significant relief usually occurs even sooner.
In practice, improvements can be seen after just one or two sessions. But sometimes time may be needed to prepare the client to work with a traumatic situation, since a session involves not only processing the client’s experience, but also collecting information about the disturbing experience, about the client himself – his thoughts, feelings, bodily sensations. This will help to choose a comfortable pace of work, assess the readiness to work on the trauma and the personal characteristics of a particular person.