EMDR Recognition
EMDR is recognized as highly effective in the treatment of trauma by many international organizations including:
American Psychological Association
American Psychiatric Association
World Health Organization (WHO)
International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies
U.S. Departments of Defense & Veterans Affairs
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
How does EMDR work?
If the body has a cut or a fracture, it will work to heal that injury. The brain is no different. If a person has a negative experience, the brain will try to process that experience. But if that experience is too overwhelming for the individual due to its disturbing nature, or perhaps the individual’s young age, poor health, lack of resources/ inability to comprehend the situation, etc, the experience cannot be processed in the brain’s usual adaptive manner. Instead it is stored in a “raw” state, along with the physical sensations, negative beliefs, feelings, and even the sights and sounds that were experienced during that initial traumatic incident. Time may pass following that negative incident, but if the person later has an experience that touches the content of the “raw” unprocessed memory, the intrusive negative thoughts, feelings, beliefs, and physical sensations may replay from the past because the memory is unprocessed. The person experiences the past in the present moment.
Such occurrences are not limited to those who have served in active combat, or others who might have a clear diagnosis of PTSD. An individual may not have a diagnosis of PTSD, but still have traumatic memories that “replay” in later situations causing hurt, or an inability to move forward in their life. For instance, an individual may have traumatic memories associated with public speaking, a fear of flying, or a fear of driving as a consequence of an accident. A person may also have negative memories, but they do not have flashbacks, or nightmares, and may even believe that the memory is no longer significant. But it is possible that they are unaware of the negative effect these previous experiences are having in their present life. Such negative memories may be affecting the individual in a less clear-cut way, such as anxiety, low self-esteem, feelings of powerlessness, or relationship challenges.
In the absence of an external intervention, such as EMDR, the content of this raw unprocessed memory will continue to affect the person. For instance, if a person feels insecure, fearful, or anxious in certain situations, they may blame themselves. Reassurances from others may be ineffective because they are generally caused by the unprocessed memory that is associated with the negative beliefs, emotions, and physical sensations. For example, a person may be triggered by an expression on someone’s face, which in turn, causes the memory to be triggered, along with the accompanying emotions, beliefs, and body sensations (i.e. heart beating faster, tightness of chest). It may not be directly obvious to the person experiencing the reaction that this was due to the “old stuff” they experienced in the past. As a consequence new negative memories are then stored, along with the old memories, subsequently their negative beliefs deepen, and the problem intensifies.
Counsellors accepting new clients for EMDR are:
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What is EMDR?
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is an evidence-based psychotherapy that alleviates distress caused by trauma, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), negative emotional experiences, and disturbing memories.
EMDR is also successfully used in the treatment of other mental health challenges such as anxiety and panic attacks, depression, stress, phobias, sleep problems, complicated grief, self-esteem and performance anxiety. EMDR is a three-pronged protocol that works on past memories, present disturbances, and future actions. Currently, EMDR has helped millions of people of all ages worldwide to improve their overall mental health, and to heal from a variety of different types of psychological stresses.
What will happen in session one?
Your therapist will meet with you to take a detailed intake to understand your current concerns, and to learn more about you. She will develop a customized treatment plan depending upon your concerns or challenges. If required, she will provide you with assessments to act as a baseline to measure your symptoms/ challenges.
If EMDR is appropriate for your situation and you wish to proceed, your therapist will ask you to identify a disturbing event, and to identify your thoughts, emotions/ feelings, and body sensations. During the desensitization stage, you will focus on different aspects of the event or thought, and use your eyes to track your therapist’s hand as it moves back and forth in your field of vision. If preferred, you are able to follow the movement of a stimulus on a screen, you can hold vibrating paddles, or you can use a tapping technique to create the bilateral stimulation.
Different thoughts/ feelings/ images will come to mind during this process. A number of different eye movement or bilateral stimulation sets will take place until the disturbing memory is no longer distressing. It is important to remember that EMDR is a very empowering therapeutic approach for clients because they always remain in control throughout the process.
