Powerful Healing with EMDR

Maybe you have heard of EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing). One of the leading way of dealing with major stressful life events. I have been talking about it for a bit and here we are, it’s time to talk about EMDR. At Mindspot Counseling we provide EMDR, reach out to learn more.

What is EMDR?

• EMDR stands for Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing and is a therapy approach developed by Dr. Francine Shapiro to help people heal from trauma, abuse, bullying, domestic violence, grief/loss, attachment wounds, abandonment, PTSD, and many other complicated life issues. 
• EMDR therapy is an evidence-based approach included in SAMHSA (the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration) and the National Registry of Evidence-based Programs and Practices. Over 20 randomized controlled clinical trials have validated EMDR therapy. 
• EMDR therapy has been used with children and adolescents to treat PTSD, anxiety, phobias, depression, attachment disorders, and more.

What makes EMDR so different from talk therapy?

In Talk Therapy:

● Using only words in therapy takes longer, often single event trauma cases may take around 40 sessions.

● Our words can mask things or things may not come up in talk therapy with words.

● Talking about one issue doesn’t always help other similar issues.

● Other more recent experiences stand in the way of the earliest or most impairing stressful/traumatic experience/s.

In EMDR:

● Because EMDR takes place primarily in the person’s thoughts people have been found to be without PTSD symptoms for single trauma cases in as few as 6 sessions.

● The client’s own internal systems heal themselves, with guidance, accessing all elements within the client’s understanding.

● Due to the EMDR process focusing on one of the distressing memories will have benefit all other similar memories in the person’s mind.

● Goes for the deepest most distressing issue naturally.

What do we do in EMDR?

EMDR starts out like many other forms of therapy. We need to spend some time getting to know each other and discussing your life and major memories. What makes EMDR so unique is its use of the relationship between the human eye and the brain. In EMDR the therapist will help you focus on distressing memories while moving your eyes back and forth rapidly. Sounds simple right? There is a lot going on behind the scenes though. The EMDR therapist will support you in turning on the parts of your mind that are causing distress and taking away their jagged edges. We do this by picking a target memory and identifying three things about it. 

1. The vivid visual image is related to the target memory.
2. A negative belief about self because of the target memory.
3. The related emotions and body sensations.

Your mind takes over, with support from your therapist and the EMDR model, and begins the healing process. 

Reach out on social media and let me know what you think about EMDR, whether it could work for you, and what questions do you have about this type of therapy.