Sometimes your mind understands you’re safe, but your body still reacts as if something isn’t resolved.
EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) helps the brain process experiences that remain emotionally “stuck.”
Instead of retelling the story repeatedly, EMDR allows the nervous system to reorganize how the memory is stored.
Often helpful for:
The goal is not to erase memories — but to reduce their emotional intensity so the present feels separate from the past.
Therapist will gather background information and identifies target goals for treatment.
During which the therapist establishes trust, explains the EMDR process in depth, answering any questions that may arise.
Where specific negative beliefs are identified and the emotions attached to them, as well as finding positive replacements.
Uses guided eye movements or other bilateral stimulation while the client focuses on the memory to reduce its emotional intensity.
Focused on strengthening and reinforcing positive beliefs so they feel more true and integrated for the client.
Client and therapist checks for lingering distress when recalling the memory to determine whether further processing is needed.
Occurs at the end of each session to ensure emotional stability and provide elf-regulation techniques between sessions.
Taking place at the beginning of each session to assess progress, review responses to previous work, and determine next steps in treatment.
In the early stages of therapy, you will discuss your problems and symptoms with your therapist, but you won’t necessarily have to reveal all the details of your traumatic experience(s). Instead, your therapist will help you focus on related negative thoughts and feelings that you are still experiencing, and decide which of these beliefs are still relevant and which ones you would like to replace with positive thoughts and beliefs.
You will learn techniques to help you deal with disturbing feelings. Your therapist will then guide you through a process known as desensitization.
While keeping the memory of a painful or traumatic event in mind, you will follow the therapist’s back-and-forth finger movements with your eyes. The purpose of this technique is to help you fully process your negative feelings and begin to recognize that you no longer need to hold on to some of them.
Future sessions are devoted to reinforcing and strengthening positive feelings and beliefs until you get to a point where you can bring up memories of the traumatic event without experiencing the negativity that brought you to therapy in the first place.
