What is EMDR?
EMDR stands for Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing. It was developed by Dr Francine Shapiro, an American Psychologist in the 1980s. It is effective for resolving emotional and psychological difficulties caused by difficult or distressing life experiences. It is recommended by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) as a first line treatment for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). However it is also becoming increasingly known for its effectiveness with phobias, panic attacks, depression, anxiety, nightmares, sleep problems, grief, and low self-esteem or confidence. EMDR enables clients to activate their natural healing process.
A distressing life event or trauma can be ‘major’ event like an accident, hospitalisation, war, natural disaster, or abuse. However a trauma can also be something seen as ‘smaller’ but is still traumatic to that person, such as being made to feel embarrassed or being hurt by a negative comment. For children it may be bullying, feeling ashamed for wetting their bed, feeling distressed from starting nursery or school, amongst many other things.
When a person is traumatised or has a distressing experience, this can result in symptoms of anxiety, depression, shame, anger, stress, guilt and in children may cause behavioural changes. It can also lead to the development of phobias.
When a person is involved in a trauma, they may feel overwhelmed and their brain is unable to process the information as it normally would. This distressing memory then becomes stored in the wrong part of the brain and it can become ‘stuck’ or ‘frozen’ in the body and mind and when the person recalls the distressing memory, they can re-experience what they saw, heard, smelt, tasted or felt, and this re-experiencing can be unpredictable and very distressing.
EMDR uses alternating left-right stimulation of the brain. This can take the form of eye movements, alternating sounds using headphones, or taps. By stimulating both sides of the brain, it seems to stimulate the frozen or blocked information processing system, and the memory is then processed and stored correctly.
Through the process of bilateral stimulation whilst thinking about an aspect of the traumatic event, the distressing memories lose their intensity and become more like ‘ordinary’ memories. The effect is believed to be similar to that which occurs naturally during REM sleep (Rapid Eye Movement) when your eyes rapidly move from side to side. EMDR helps reduce the distress of all the different kinds of memories. The memories are no longer alive in the present, they belong in the past. The person can remember the event without reliving it.
Once people have completed the EMDR therapeutic process, they can often feel empowered and not only free from the distressing experience but have learnt coping skills for future difficulties. A further benefit of EMDR is that clients do not have to speak about the difficult event in detail.
Next Steps
Interested in finding out if EMDR Therapy is right for you? Schedule a free 30-min Discovery Session. Link below!
The first step is all down to you, but afterwards — I’ll be with you every step of the way.