Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is backed by robust scientific research as an effective way of treating trauma and negative life experiences. It is widely considered the first-choice treatment for PTSD. EMDR can also be quite helpful in processing past events or adverse life experiences that contribute to panic, anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, and relationship problems.

As an EMDR therapist, I can attest to the profound relief my clients have experienced using EMDR in our work together.

What is EMDR?

EMDR is more accessible than ever. Just take a look at what online EMDR is like: 

Many of us have had experiences that affect our personalities and have led to dysfunctional reactions and behavioral patterns.

If not adequately processed, experiences such as being teased by classmates or disparaged by parents may have a traumatic impact that can affect a person throughout the lifespan.

Such experiences can leave a negative impact on our brain and nervous system. When left unprocessed, we can experience depression, anxiety, low self-esteem, or problematic relationship patterns. 

EMDR can help the brain integrate these experiences more adaptively. This can then change our feelings, beliefs, and perceptions.

EMDR has been endorsed by many organizations including:

• World Health Organization 
• American Psychiatric Association 
• U.S. Department of Defense
• U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs
• International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies
• Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration

Some benefits of EMDR include:

• Solidly backed by science
• Clients often begin experiencing relief in just a few sessions
• May involve fewer sessions & faster progress than talk therapy alone
• Can be paired with many other treatments for an integrative approach
• Addresses the past, present, and future for comprehensive trauma treatment
• Can be helpful for anxiety, panic, trauma, PTSD, low self-esteem, phobias, and relationship issues
• Doesn’t require talking in detail about the distressing issue or completing homework between sessions, though clients often report continued insights and notable changes between sessions.

EMDR is not a topical solution or quick fix. EMDR helps you change the thoughts, feelings, emotions, sensations, and behaviors that have resulted from negative experiences. It engages you in deep processing that allows the brain to resume its natural healing process.

EMDR helps the brain heal from psychological trauma, similar to how the body recovers from physical trauma.

For example, if you had a cut on your skin, your body naturally works to close the wound. If a foreign object aggravates the wound, you may stay wounded longer. Healing resumes once the block is removed. 

EMDR creates a similar sequence of events in mental processing, which makes sense as the brain is, after all, just another organ in the body.

The brain’s system to process information naturally wants to move toward health and healing. 

EMDR is an effective way to do this.

If the information processing system is disturbed by negative experiences that haven’t been sufficiently processed, the emotional wound can fester and cause more distress long after the negative experience or trauma occurred.

Once the block is removed, the brain will naturally heal.

How does EMDR work?

EMDR is based on Information Processing Theory to explain the development of psychological problems and personality. You can think of your body’s information processing system like your digestion system or any other physiological system in the body. Memories are stored in the information processing system along with connected thoughts, emotions, and sensations.

When someone experiences a negative or traumatic event, the information processing system may become disrupted or affected.  Memory can be stored in a dysfunctional way resulting in emotional disturbance, intrusive thoughts, and a negative filter regarding the self or the world.

Most of us have experienced overt and/or covert trauma that has affected our personalities and may have led to dysfunctional reactions and behavioral patterns. 

If not adequately processed, experiences such as being teased by classmates or disparaged by parents may have a traumatic impact that affects a person throughout their lifespan.

EMDR provides a way for such memories to link with more adaptive information. Even years after a distressing incident, individuals can address old wounds and find a different path forward.

The EMDR Therapy Process

The EMDR therapy process consists of eight phases, which are:

1. History and treatment planning
2. Preparation
3. Assessment
4. Desensitization (the bilateral stimulation or eye movement part)
5. Installation 
6. Body Scan 
7. Closure
8. Reevaluation

As an anxiety and trauma specialist, I am always amazed and delighted to witness my clients heal so profoundly as we engage in the EMDR process. It brings me a great deal of satisfaction and purpose to know my clients are truly getting the healing they need.

Why the rapid eye movement / bilateral stimulation?

Sometimes, a client’s first impression of EMDR is that it sounds too “woo.”  This was my first impression, too! Perhaps it’s the eye movement or bilateral stimulation piece that we’re initially skeptical of.  So, let’s take a closer look:

In his renowned book, The Body Keeps the Score, leading trauma expert, Bessel Van Der Kolk explained that in sleep, rapid eye movement (REM) is important because it “reshapes memory by increasing the imprint of emotionally relevant information while helping irrelevant material fade away.” The adaptive material is then integrated into the larger memory system.

Neurobiologists have proposed different theories as to how eye movements used in EMDR are effective. A prevailing theory is that EMDR elicits an orienting response, which is an interest/attention response that occurs via stimulus. In fact, the same phenomenon has been observed in a cognitive/information processing model, a neurobiological model, and a behavioral model.

How does online EMDR work?

Covid-19 changed a lot about the way we do things. Since the pandemic, more and more clinicians have started to offer online EMDR and can attest to its efficacy. 

As an EMDR therapist who worked exclusively in-person before the pandemic and exclusively online throughout the pandemic, I can personally attest to the positive outcomes of virtual EMDR. Many of the clients I worked with using EMDR in-person report a preference for online EMDR via virtual therapy/teletherapy for a multitude of reasons, including a feeling of security, comfort and convenience.

Why EMDR?

I have studied and utilized many different modalities. Still, EMDR is what I am most excited about sharing with my clients. 

As a therapist, not only have I witnessed the profound benefits of EMDR professionally, I have also experienced them personally. Essentially, I was sold on EMDR when I experienced it for myself. I get so excited to share this profound healing with others.

What now?

Stop letting your past dictate your present. Let’s get you the answers and tools you need to reclaim your life.

Experience EMDR for yourself.