EMDR therapy is one of our specialties at Foundational Wellness. In fact, Logan Druckman, one of our co-founders, is an EMDRIA-certified therapist. We’ve seen the powerful results EMDR can create. So today we want to help you understand EMDR therapy and whether it’s a good choice for you.
What Is EMDR Therapy?
EMDR stands for Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing. It’s a way to desensitize and reprocess memories that are painful and troubling.
How Does EMDR Therapy Work?
To explain EMDR, we need to first talk a little about your nervous systems and how they work. You’re probably already familiar with the term “fight or flight” — or even the newer version: “fight, flight, freeze, fawn.”
This terminology refers to your Sympathetic Nervous System, which responds to dangerous and stressful situations. Think about what goes on in your body when something bad or scary happens: Your heart beats faster, you get goosebumps, you start to sweat, your breathing quickens, etc. All of this happens because your Sympathetic Nervous System has been engaged and is responding.
Sometimes this response can cause a memory to be “maladaptively stored” – meaning the memory was not correctly or fully processed at the time of the event. The problem with maladaptively stored memories is that they can continue to cause negative feelings, body sensations, and thoughts, which stay “stuck” and continue to cause distress whenever they get triggered. The goal of EMDR therapy is to get these feelings unstuck by using fast bilateral stimulation to activate your nervous system.
When is EMDR Therapy Beneficial?
If any of these statements apply to you, you could be a good candidate for EMDR therapy:
- You’ve engaged in a lot of traditional talk therapy and have found it to be helpful and validating, but you’ve hit a wall.
- You have a recurring symptom that is bothersome, and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy methods have not decreased or eliminated it.
- You have a lot of anticipatory anxiety (worrying about things in the future).
- You struggle with overuse and cravings for certain substances or behaviors.
- You have experienced something in your past that still elicits a visceral and unpleasant bodily response when you think of it today.
What Happens During an EMDR Therapy Session?
EMDR differs from traditional talk therapy. During an EMDR session, client and therapist work together to desensitize and reprocess troubling memories.
1. Desensitization
Desensitization starts with the therapist helping the client get in touch with the memory and become aware of the negative thoughts about themselves, the negative emotions, and any unpleasant body sensations that go with that memory.
Next, the therapist uses fast bilateral stimulation to activate the client’s nervous system. This can happen in different ways:
- The client holds buzzers in each hand that vibrate left, right, left, right.
- The client follows the therapist’s fingers moving back and forth, left to right.
- The therapist gently taps on the client’s left knee, then right knee, then left knee, etc.
- The client follows a flashing light moving back and forth, left to right.
The back-and-forth motions stimulate each side of the client’s brain in turn. Fast bilateral stimulation will briefly increase the unpleasant feelings and memories, but then they will start to ease until ultimately the client feels completely neutral when they think about the memory.
2. Reprocessing
After the memory has been desensitized, it can be reprocessed. When a memory gets incorrectly stored, we often internalize a negative belief about ourselves (“I’m not good enough,” “I’m not loved,” “I’m not safe,” etc.) with it. The therapist and client identify the client’s negative belief and choose a positive belief to replace it. Using fast bilateral stimulation, the therapist will work with the client until they can imagine the memory and believe that the positive belief about themselves is true.
Looking for EMDR Therapy in Boulder, Colorado
This is a very broad overview of EMDR therapy. To learn more and to talk about whether EMDR is a good fit for you, please get in touch with us. We’ll answer your questions and explore how EMDR can create healing and hope in your life.