EMDR THERAPY
Most of the time your body is able to manage new information and experiences without you actually knowing it is doing that. However, when something distressing or traumatizing happens your natural coping mechanism may become overwhelmed. When you are in this state of being overloaded it can result in these experiences being stuck in your brain and unprocessed. This can cause you to feel the same emotions associated with those events over and over. It becomes difficult to live in the moment and this can impede on your ability to learn from new experiences. EMDR helps create the connections between your brain’s memory networks, enabling your brain to process the traumatic memory in a very natural way.
What Is EMDR?
The mind can often heal itself naturally, in the same way as the body does. Much of this natural coping mechanism occurs during sleep, particularly during rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. Francine Shapiro developed Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) in 1987, utilizing this natural process in order to successfully treat Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Since then, EMDR has been used to effectively treat a wide range of mental health problems. Many repeat EMDR studies show that the mind can heal from psychological trauma much as the body recovers from physical trauma.
What Does EMDR Treat?
PTSD· anxiety and panic attacks · depression · stress · phobias · sleep problems · complicated grief · addictions · pain relief, phantom limb pain · self-esteem and performance anxiety.
What Is An EMDR Session Like?
After a thorough assessment, you will be asked specific questions about a particular disturbing memory. Eye movements, similar to those during REM sleep, will be recreated simply by asking you to watch the therapist's finger moving backwards and forwards across your visual field. Sometimes, a bar of moving lights or headphones is used instead. You will then be asked to report back on the experiences you have had during each of these sets of eye movements. Experiences during a session may include changes in thoughts, images and feelings. With repeated sets of eye movements, the memory tends to change in such a way that it loses its painful intensity and simply becomes a neutral memory of an event in the past. Other associated memories may also heal at the same time. This is not a form of hypnosis and you can stop the process at any time. Most people experience EMDR as being a natural and very empowering therapy.
How Long Does EDMR Treatment Take?
EMDR can be brief focused treatment or part of a longer psychotherapy program. EMDR sessions can be for 60 to 90 minutes or longer.