EMDR AND HOW IT WORKS
Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing
No one knows how any form of psychotherapy works neurobiologically or in the brain. Furthermore, even the most enthusiastic supporters of EMDR cannot explain why EMDR is so effective. At this point, only theories exist. However, we do know that when a person is very upset, their brain cannot process information as it does ordinarily. Normal life events are usually processed in a healthy fashion via the cortex and stored appropriately. Even traumatic situations can be processed and stored properly if the right coping tools and emotional skills are in place. When an individual lacks the proper skills or tools to deal with a traumatic situation or are emotionally overwhelmed/impaired, these traumatic events or disturbing adverse life experiences can be encoded and stored maladaptively in the memory. The result of this is an inadequate or impaired linkage with memory networks that contain more adaptive information to process the trauma. These memories are further stored in what become isolated memory networks (fear channels, anxiety channels, anger channels...). These networks are very "sensitive" and are often reinforced through continually reliving the traumatic experience or when the individual attempts to find resolution by creating similar traumas in some hopes of healthier resolutions and relief to the memory network. Rarely is this effective without acquiring new coping skills through the assistance of a professional and in the end, the trauma becomes compounded.
With trauma, one moment becomes "frozen in time," and remembering a trauma may feel as bad as going through it the first time because the images, sounds, smells, and feelings haven’t changed. This is due to the maladaptive storage of memories that are dysfunctionally linked within emotions, cognitions, somatasensory (body sensation), and temporal systems. As a result, memories become susceptible to dysfunctional recall with respect to time, place, and context and may be experienced in fragmented form. Such memories have a lasting negative effect that interferes with the way a person sees the world and the way they relate to other people.
The goal of EMDR therapy is to access and process these distressing memories, reducing their lingering effects and allowing clients to develop more adaptive coping mechanisms. EMDR therapy shows that the mind can in fact heal from psychological trauma much as the body recovers from physical trauma. When you cut your hand, your body works to close the wound. If a foreign object or repeated injury irritates the wound, it festers and causes pain. Once the block is removed, healing resumes. EMDR therapy demonstrates that a similar sequence of events occurs with mental processes. The brain's information processing system naturally moves towards mental health. If the system is blocked or imbalanced by the impact of a disturbing event, the emotional wounds fester and can cause intense suffering. Once the block is removed, healing resumes. With proper guidance and EMDR sessions conducted with a trained EMDR specialists, clients can allow their natural healing process to occur.
Francine Shapiro, the founder of the EMDR process, hypothesizes that EMDR facilitates the accessing of the traumatic memory network, so that information processing is enhanced, with new associations forged between the traumatic memory and more adaptive memories or information. These new associations are thought to result in complete information processing, new learning, elimination of emotional distress, and development of cognitive insights. EMDR uses a three pronged protocol: (1) the past events that have laid the groundwork for dysfunction are processed, forging new associative links with adaptive information; the current circumstances that elicit distress are targeted, and internal and external triggers are desensitized; imagined templates of future events are incorporated to assist the client in acquiring the skills needed fro adaptive functioning.
Eye movements (or bilateral stimulations) are used during one part of the session. After the clinician has determine which memory to target first, the clinician asks the client to hold different aspects of that event or thought in mind and to use his or her eyes to track the therapist's hand as it moves back and forth across the client's field of vision. There is belief that the eye movements simulate the biological mechanisms involved in Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep, which is the deepest state of sleep in which the body naturally processes and assimilates disturbing information and feelings.
In a successful EMDR therapy session, the meaning of the painful events is transformed on an emotional level. For instance, a rape victim shifts from feeling horror and self-disgust to holding the firm belief that, "I survived it and I am strong." Unlike talk therapy, the insights clients gain in EMDR result not so much from clinician interpretations, but from the client's own accelerated intellectual and emotional processes. Clients conclude the EMDR therapy feeling empowered by the very experience that once debased them. Their wounds have not just closed, they have transformed. As a natural outcome of the EMDR therapeutic process, normal information processing is resumed. Following a successful EMDR session, a person no longer relives the images, sounds, and feelings when the event is brought to mind. Clients still remember what happened, but it is less upsetting. All of this work is done without speaking in detail (talk therapy) or doing homework that is used in other therapies.
***EMDR should be administered only by a licensed clinician that has been specifically trained in EMDR through the EMDR Institute.
***Be cautious of other therapies that claim to "be like" EMDR or "use parts" of EMDR. EMDR is an 8-Phase approach that contains procedures that have been thoroughly examined by researchers. This is an evidence based practice, which means that it has been tested and analyzed for efficacy. The body of empirical and statistical data that supports this technique is impressive.
***To check on my credentials or to find a EMDR Institute trained therapist please go the the following EMDR link
Portions of this explanation were obtained from www.emdr.com
No one knows how any form of psychotherapy works neurobiologically or in the brain. Furthermore, even the most enthusiastic supporters of EMDR cannot explain why EMDR is so effective. At this point, only theories exist. However, we do know that when a person is very upset, their brain cannot process information as it does ordinarily. Normal life events are usually processed in a healthy fashion via the cortex and stored appropriately. Even traumatic situations can be processed and stored properly if the right coping tools and emotional skills are in place. When an individual lacks the proper skills or tools to deal with a traumatic situation or are emotionally overwhelmed/impaired, these traumatic events or disturbing adverse life experiences can be encoded and stored maladaptively in the memory. The result of this is an inadequate or impaired linkage with memory networks that contain more adaptive information to process the trauma. These memories are further stored in what become isolated memory networks (fear channels, anxiety channels, anger channels...). These networks are very "sensitive" and are often reinforced through continually reliving the traumatic experience or when the individual attempts to find resolution by creating similar traumas in some hopes of healthier resolutions and relief to the memory network. Rarely is this effective without acquiring new coping skills through the assistance of a professional and in the end, the trauma becomes compounded.
With trauma, one moment becomes "frozen in time," and remembering a trauma may feel as bad as going through it the first time because the images, sounds, smells, and feelings haven’t changed. This is due to the maladaptive storage of memories that are dysfunctionally linked within emotions, cognitions, somatasensory (body sensation), and temporal systems. As a result, memories become susceptible to dysfunctional recall with respect to time, place, and context and may be experienced in fragmented form. Such memories have a lasting negative effect that interferes with the way a person sees the world and the way they relate to other people.
The goal of EMDR therapy is to access and process these distressing memories, reducing their lingering effects and allowing clients to develop more adaptive coping mechanisms. EMDR therapy shows that the mind can in fact heal from psychological trauma much as the body recovers from physical trauma. When you cut your hand, your body works to close the wound. If a foreign object or repeated injury irritates the wound, it festers and causes pain. Once the block is removed, healing resumes. EMDR therapy demonstrates that a similar sequence of events occurs with mental processes. The brain's information processing system naturally moves towards mental health. If the system is blocked or imbalanced by the impact of a disturbing event, the emotional wounds fester and can cause intense suffering. Once the block is removed, healing resumes. With proper guidance and EMDR sessions conducted with a trained EMDR specialists, clients can allow their natural healing process to occur.
Francine Shapiro, the founder of the EMDR process, hypothesizes that EMDR facilitates the accessing of the traumatic memory network, so that information processing is enhanced, with new associations forged between the traumatic memory and more adaptive memories or information. These new associations are thought to result in complete information processing, new learning, elimination of emotional distress, and development of cognitive insights. EMDR uses a three pronged protocol: (1) the past events that have laid the groundwork for dysfunction are processed, forging new associative links with adaptive information; the current circumstances that elicit distress are targeted, and internal and external triggers are desensitized; imagined templates of future events are incorporated to assist the client in acquiring the skills needed fro adaptive functioning.
Eye movements (or bilateral stimulations) are used during one part of the session. After the clinician has determine which memory to target first, the clinician asks the client to hold different aspects of that event or thought in mind and to use his or her eyes to track the therapist's hand as it moves back and forth across the client's field of vision. There is belief that the eye movements simulate the biological mechanisms involved in Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep, which is the deepest state of sleep in which the body naturally processes and assimilates disturbing information and feelings.
In a successful EMDR therapy session, the meaning of the painful events is transformed on an emotional level. For instance, a rape victim shifts from feeling horror and self-disgust to holding the firm belief that, "I survived it and I am strong." Unlike talk therapy, the insights clients gain in EMDR result not so much from clinician interpretations, but from the client's own accelerated intellectual and emotional processes. Clients conclude the EMDR therapy feeling empowered by the very experience that once debased them. Their wounds have not just closed, they have transformed. As a natural outcome of the EMDR therapeutic process, normal information processing is resumed. Following a successful EMDR session, a person no longer relives the images, sounds, and feelings when the event is brought to mind. Clients still remember what happened, but it is less upsetting. All of this work is done without speaking in detail (talk therapy) or doing homework that is used in other therapies.
***EMDR should be administered only by a licensed clinician that has been specifically trained in EMDR through the EMDR Institute.
***Be cautious of other therapies that claim to "be like" EMDR or "use parts" of EMDR. EMDR is an 8-Phase approach that contains procedures that have been thoroughly examined by researchers. This is an evidence based practice, which means that it has been tested and analyzed for efficacy. The body of empirical and statistical data that supports this technique is impressive.
***To check on my credentials or to find a EMDR Institute trained therapist please go the the following EMDR link
Portions of this explanation were obtained from www.emdr.com
