Beginner's Guide to EMDR Part 1: What is EMDR?
When I introduce EMDR to my clients, they naturally have lots of questions about what it is and why it works. Here, I hope to break down what EMDR therapy looks like and address some commonly asked questions throughout. This post will focus primarily on explaining what EMDR is, with a later post answering common questions.
What is EMDR?
EMDR stands for Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing. EMDR is a multi-phase, trauma-informed approach to therapy that helps you to reprocess past traumatic and distressing experiences so they are no longer triggering. EMDR uses your brain’s natural ability to heal. It incorporates both emotional regulation skills to promote resilience, and uses bilateral stimulation (moving your eyes, tapping your body, or listening to sounds that alternate from one side to the other). This helps your brain process difficult experiences in a less distressing way. It's like giving your brain a little nudge to help it reorganize the memory, making it feel less upsetting.
When first developed in the 1980s, EMDR was primarily used to help veterans experiencing Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) symptoms from combat. Over the last few decades, EMDR research has expanded and been shown to help resolve a wide variety of issues such as anxiety, depression, substance abuse, grief, and more. EMDR helps you heal from traumas and the core beliefs that you associate with them such as:
“I’m not good enough”
“I’m a failure”
“I am a disappointment”
“I am unlovable”
Just as positive core memories impact our framework for how we see ourselves and the world, past painful experiences and traumas also impact this framework. Through EMDR, we’re able to shift and change how past traumas are stored in your memory. This helps you shift away from those negative core beliefs and re-build a framework that helps you feel more positive, self-assured and secure.
Multiple brain structures are involved in trauma, mainly those involved in memory and emotional processing. One part involved is our limbic system, the part of our brain that is the alarm system for stress and danger, impacting our fight, flight, freeze and fawn responses. This is why you may notice a flood of emotions or emotional shutdown when you recall something upsetting from your past. Trauma also has implications for the memory (hippocampus) and meaning-making (prefrontal cortex) parts of our brain; this is why often, traumatic experiences can feel fragmented, and as if they are happening again in the present. EMDR helps integrate the trauma that has been maladaptively stored so it feels more cohesive and less fragmented.
The 8 Phases of EMDR
EMDR isn’t just bilateral stimulation; there are multiple steps in EMDR work that we go through together to create an EMDR treatment plan best suited to your needs.
Phase 1. History-taking: We establish a strong therapeutic relationship and I gather information about your history and current concerns. We collaborate on your therapy goals and goals for EMDR work.
Phase 2. Preparation: With our goals in mind, we create our roadmap for EMDR work, identifying current triggers and the past experiences we’ll target during subsequent phases. We also create tailored resources and emotional regulation skills to help you manage any overwhelming emotions that may arise during the EMDR process; you can practice these outside of sessions so you feel more confident using them in later EMDR phases. They can also function as relaxation and grounding tools in your daily life.
Phase 3. Assessment: We set the stage for phases 3 and 4 by reviewing your toolkit of resources. After choosing our target memory, we'll pinpoint the thoughts, emotions, and physical sensations associated with it in phase 3.
Phase 4. Desensitization: Here, I guide you using bilateral stimulation, such as eye movements, tapping, or sound to help reprocess your chosen target memory in a more adaptive way. The goal is for you to maintain dual awareness, meaning you feel present in the current moment and present in the memory. You'll focus on the distressing memory while engaging in bilateral stimulation, allowing your brain to process the memory in a new way.
Phase 5. Installation: This is where we integrate and solidify the new, positive beliefs and emotions related to the targeted memory. This helps to replace negative beliefs with more adaptive ones.
Phase 6. Body Scan: We'll check in with your body to ensure that the distress associated with the targeted memory has decreased and that you feel grounded and safe.
Phase 7. Closure: At the end of each session, we'll ensure you feel stable and calm before concluding. I'll provide you with additional coping strategies to use between sessions if needed.
Phase 8. Reevaluation: In subsequent sessions, we'll review your progress and address any remaining distressing memories or related issues.
Clients share the memories we target lose their emotional charge and distress. Clients also report experiencing perspective shifts and new insights. When we work through upsetting experiences from childhood and childhood trauma, many clients develop greater compassion and empathy for their younger selves. They recognize the challenges they faced as a child, and the resilience they showed in coping with difficult and often scary situations. This increased compassion and empathy can be transformative, fostering healing and self-acceptance.
If you’re interested in learning more about working together using EMDR, I’d love to connect with you! You can reach out to me by clicking here.
If you’d like to learn more about EMDR, below are a few helpful resources: