What is EMDR
EMDR stands for Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing. This treatment helps people activate the body’s natural healing processes by addressing dysfunctional working memory networks. When a person’s brain becomes overwhelmed by an event, that memory does not store properly. EMDR removes obstructions to healing, allowing people to digest traumatic or distressing memories (Shapiro, 2018).
“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 Institute
Research shows EMDR is effective in treating trauma, depression, anxiety, OCD, and more. Among 10 interventions, EMDR appeared be more cost-effective in treating PTSD. In 2022, EMDRIA compiled existing EMDR Meta-Analyses and Systematic Reviews that demonstrate EMDR’s effectiveness. The Department of Defense, the American Psychiatric Association, and the World Health Organization view EMDR as an efficacious treatment for PTSD.
How is EMDR conducted?
While focusing on an external stimulus, clients connect to dismaying content (sounds, images, sensations) in short consecutive periods. The external stimulus may be lateral eye movements, audio stimulation, or hand tapping.
How Long Does Treatment Take?
Each EMDR session tend to last either 60 or 90 minutes. For several reasons, a therapist cannot determine how many sessions a client will need to address a presenting issue. Every person’s history, symptoms, and current life circumstances vary; these factors influence the pacing and process of therapy. Additionally, it’s not uncommon for people to seek therapy for one issue, only to find there is another issue that is preventing them from resolving it. The second issue must first be addressed in this case.
The treatment timeframe for a single event, such as a natural disaster, will likely be much shorter than addressing a series of distressing events, such as childhood trauma. Lastly, the client’s trust in their therapist can impact the healing timeframe. For some people, especially those whose trust has been violated in the past, it can take some time to develop a strong rapport with their therapist, which is needed when going beyond phase two. Research shows the importance of the client-therapist rapport:
“The quality of the client-therapist alliance is a reliable predictor of positive clinical outcome independent of the variety of psychotherapy approaches and outcome measures.” - Researchers Ardito and Rebellando (2011)
Do I Talk About My Traumas?
EMDR does not involve the same depth or amount of talking as traditional talk therapy. EMDR may be preferred by those who don’t want to talk about distressing memories.
What Should People Know Before Considering EMDR?
As with other therapeutic interventions, clients may experience increased emotional distress, sensitivity to external stimuli, or vivid dreams after sessions. Between sessions, more memories or physiological sensations may surface. An EMDR-trained therapist provides their client with relaxation and safety skills to help them manage emotional and physiological distress, that they can use during and after each session. Since EMDR therapy may temporarily cause heightened emotional disturbance, it’s important that clients are not currently in chronically stressful environments such as a toxic or taxing workplace or partnership when receiving treatment.
Eight Phases of EMDR
Elese Lorentzen, ASW 96262 provides EMDR therapy to those who are physically located in California. Her office is located near the Walnut Creek BART station, making it commuter-friendly to those living in the San Francisco Bay Area.
