What Does EMDR Stand For?

EMDR stands for Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing and is an evidence-based form of therapy used to treat mental health conditions caused by distressing memories of past traumatic events.

Unlike other forms of psychotherapy, EMDR does not require that you talk in detail about your past traumatic experiences to gain insights into and address what lies at the roots of your dysfunctional thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.

Rather, it focuses on the improperly processed memories that have become stuck, and on reducing and eliminating your problematic symptoms by helping your brain reprocess these memories and change how they are stored.

History of EMDR and the Theory of Adaptive Information Processing

EMDR therapy was developed in the late 1980s by American psychologist Dr. Francine Shapiro to help reduce the distress associated with traumatic memories. Based on her theory of adaptive information processing, she posits that these symptoms are caused by traumatic memories that have not been properly processed, which leaves your brain unable to distinguish between the past and the present.

As a result, when something triggers you, your body and brain react the same way they did when the distressing event first occurred, and you continue to relive it long after the trauma has ended.

Adaptive Information Processing (AIP) Adaptive information processing is the theory behind EMDR. It describes the way the brain processes, links, and stores memories, and proposes that emotionally charged memories are stored differently than normal ones.

Memories of normal events are connected to other memories. When an adverse life experience occurs, however, distressing fragments are blocked out, causing a disconnect between what you see, hear, and feel, and what is stored.

This disrupts the links between your senses and your memories, which results in a psychological wound that is unable to heal because your brain did not receive the message that the danger is over, and the inadequately processed memory continues to cause distress and dysfunctional reactions in the present.

The Goal of EMDR

EMDR therapy’s goal is to set up a learning state that activates specific neural pathways that help the brain reprocess the blocked memories and store them appropriately so you realize that what happened to you in the past is not happening now, and you no longer re-experience the trauma every time a memory of it is triggered.

It does this by interacting with your brain’s information processing system in a way that enables it to forge new, healthier associations; rewrite the memory trace; and unlearn dysfunctional thought patterns and behaviors as it reprocesses the memory and stores it appropriately.

Conditions Treated By EMDR

EMDR has been found to be particularly effective in treating trauma-related disorders such as PTSD. It is listed as a best-practice treatment modality for veterans with PTSD by both the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Defense. It has also received official approval from the World Health Organization (WHO), as well as many government agencies and organizations around the world, including Australia, the United Kingdom, and Germany.

Since its origins, however, EMDR has evolved into a multifaceted approach that incorporates elements of other treatment modalities such as cognitive behavioral therapy. This has broadened its scope and made it an effective treatment for other mental health conditions as well, such as depression, anxiety, eating disorders, substance abuse, obsessive-compulsive disorders (OCD), and panic disorders.

How EMDR Therapy Works

EMDR is a structured, eight-phase process that uses bilateral stimulation to directly target traumatic memories that have gotten stuck, unfreeze them, and help the brain reprocess them by allowing the neural networks between its two hemispheres to reconnect so they can be stored appropriately.

Phase 1: Intake history and treatment plan The first session is devoted to getting to know you, what brought you in, and assessing your readiness to undergo EMDR therapy. Your therapist will gather information about your past history to understand how it has shaped your present, what your treatment goals are, and what distressing events and/or memories you want to reprocess using EMDR to develop a treatment plan.

Phase 2: Preparation During the preparation phase, your therapist will explain how EMDR works, what to expect during the sessions, what to focus on to help you feel safe during the treatment process, and teach you several calming techniques you can use to manage any emotional distress you may feel during and in-between therapy sessions.

Phase 3: Assessment In this phase your therapist will help you identify a specific memory you want to target and work on during the desensitizing and reprocessing process, negative beliefs this distressing life event has made you feel about yourself, and some positive beliefs about yourself you would like to replace them with going forward.

Phase 4: Desensitization and reprocessing Phase 4 is the rapid eye movement part of the treatment in which desensitization and reprocessing occur. The therapist will have you think of the target event you selected in phase 3, along with all the emotions and physical sensations associated with it, while simultaneously having you focus on an external bilateral stimulus such as following his or her fingers, a light, or a sound.

This creates rapid eye movements as your eyes move from side to side, diverting your attention and desensitizing you to the intensity of your experience. Before and after each pass you will be asked how you feel and if you have any negative thoughts about yourself that are connected to the distressing event.

Phase 5: Installation During the installation phase, your therapist will help you attach positive thoughts and feelings to distressing memories that have previously been associated with negative ones. He or she will have you focus on a positive belief about yourself that you want to substitute and incorporate into the memory and use bilateral stimulation to strengthen and reinforce it.

Over time, as phases 4 and 5 are repeated, you’ll be able to work through the disturbing memories and associated feelings and reach a point where you’re able to think about the event without reliving it. The memory will still be there, but it will be less upsetting.

Phase 6: Body scan After phases 4 and 5 have been completed, your therapist will measure your progress by having you focus on how your body feels when you think of the traumatic event. Symptoms should decrease with each pass until you have as close to none as possible.

Phase 7: Closure Sessions end with a closure phase in which your therapist ensures you feel calm, safe, and better than you did at the beginning of the session. They will also tell you what you might expect between sessions, how to stabilize yourself should you have any unsettling emotions, and ask you to write down any new thoughts or insights about your distressing experience so you can bring them up at your next session.

Phase 8: Reevaluation In this final phase, your therapist will assess your progress, evaluate how you are doing now, make sure all targeted experiences have been adequately processed, and determine whether you require additional sessions and/or need to adjust your therapy goals and expectations.

This final reevaluation phase is often used at the beginning of your sessions, to see if any tweaks, changes, or adjustments should be made.

Advantages of EMDR Therapy

Some of the advantages of EMDR therapy over traditional psychotherapy include:

• its direct approach to processing distressing memories
• its ability to address the physiological aspects of trauma, which often leads to quicker symptom relief
• it involves less homework
• it is less stressful, in that it does not involve extended exposure to the distressing memory, detailed descriptions of the trauma, or having to relive negative events

If you have questions about this article on what EMDR is or would like to set up an appointment to meet with one of the faith-based counselors at our location who specialize in EMDR therapy, please do not hesitate to give us a call. Your first appointment is risk-free.