About EMDR
Excerpt From Psychology Today:
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) Therapy is a unique, nontraditional form of psychotherapy designed to diminish negative feelings associated with memories of traumatic events. Unlike most forms of talk therapy, EMDR focuses less on the traumatic event itself and more on the disturbing emotions and symptoms that result from the event.
How It Works
The goal of EMDR is to fully process past experiences and sort out the emotions attached to those experiences. Negative thoughts and feelings that are no longer useful are replaced with positive thoughts and feelings that will encourage healthier behavior and social interactions. (Psychology Today, “Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing Therapy”)
The 8 Phases of EMDR Therapy
Ultimately, clients learn to handle stressful situations themselves. EMDR therapy occurs in eight phases:
1) History and treatment planning
2) Preparation, to establish trust and explain the treatment in-depth
3) Assessment, to establish negative feelings and identify positive replacements
4) Desensitization, which includes the eye movement technique
5) Installation, to strengthen positive replacements
6) Body scan, to see if the client is now able to bring up memories of trauma without experiencing negative feelings that are no longer relevant, or if reprocessing is necessary
7) Closure, which occurs at the end of every session
8) Re-evaluation, which occurs at the beginning of every session
EMDR has been extensively researched and proven effective for the treatment of trauma. After the therapist and the client agree that EMDR therapy is a good fit, and begin to work together, the client will be asked to focus on a specific event. Attention will be given to a negative image, belief, and body feeling related to this event, and then to a positive belief that would indicate the issues was resolved.
While the client focuses on the upsetting event, the therapist will begin sets of side-to-side eye movements, sounds, or taps.
The client will be guided to notice what comes to mind after each set. They may experience shifts in insight or changes in images, feelings, or beliefs regarding the event. The client has full control to stop the therapist at any point, if needed. The sets of eye movements, sounds, or taps are repeated until the event becomes less disturbing.
A therapist trained in EMDR therapy uses a set of standardized protocols that incorporates elements from several treatment approaches. (Emdria, “Experiencing EMDR therapy”)