EMDR stands for Eye-movement Desensitization & Reprocessing Therapy. Its an alternative form of Mental Health Treatment to "talk therapies" like Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Client Oriented (or Focused) Therapy. Most people just refer to it as "EMDR Therapy" to save their breath; but personally,
EMDR helps people heal, by giving them the opportunity to better digest some of life's most cringeworthy and upsetting experiences, that for them, have resulted in mental health symptoms like
anxiety,
depression
low-self esteem
helplessness
feeling out of control
hypercriticism
nightmares
lack of connection, and of course
trauma, in your traditional sense.
EMDR gets its name from the most common tool it uses, ie. the eye movements, in helping Trained (and Certified) Therapists to achieve these general goals:
Client Goals in EMDR
Introduce helpful and practical resources to clients
Activate specific memory networks related to clients' presenting issues
Desensitize clients to whatever uncomfortable images, emotions, thoughts, body sensations, unhelpful beliefs, and/or other memories are associated at the root of their presenting issues
Install, reprocess, and update the meaning of those previously sensitive details above
Reinforce body language that is in alignment with the updated meaning and newfound sense of calm and
Help prepare clients for facing their presenting problems on their own, in upsetting future events, that might instinctively feel similar.
The Theory Behind EMDR
The theory behind why EMDR Therapists eye-movements during processing is backed by research from studies that have shown we unconsciously move our eyes back-and-forth during the kind of sleep that makes us feel super rested, because it's when our mind does a deep cleaning of sorts.
The "info cleaning" is done by something called our Adaptive Information Processing (AIP) system. It goes through all the info from our experiences that day, keeps what's necessary and important for future learning, and then gets rid of the rest- mostly, because it's irrelevant and taking up valuable mental space and energy. This AIP system is kind of the mental and emotional equivalent of how our immune system works to protect us from sickness and disease.
When EMDR Therapists use eye-movements (or other forms of side-to-side sensory stimulation- topic for another day), while achieving the things listed above, they're doing more than just "mimicking" movements that occurs when we sleep; those movements are actually thought to fully activate one's AIP system.
Talk about an "open sesame" kind of key to healing am i right? Yeah.
For those who might need another analogy,
So now, you're probably wondering why more Therapists don't offer EMDR and why more people don't know about it do it.
EMDR Training and then Certification takes a great deal of time and money. To be a Trained EMDR Therapist is one thing, but to be Certified in EMDR, you literally have to go back to recording and transcribing hours of therapy sessions to then get feedback on, AFTER you're completely Licensed as a Mental Health Counselor.
EMDR is fairly new, in comparison to other therapies and was originally labeled as being "solely for treating PTSD," despite the fact that its been proven to treat so much more than what it was originally created to treat it (PTSD).
EMDR Therapy Sessions are often longer and pricier than your typical talk therapy sessions. EMDR sessions will run from 60-90mins, at about $200.00/session, while CBT sessions will run from 30-60mins, and cost anywhere from $60-$130.00/session.
Why I love EMDR and prefer it over talk therapy
Structure allows for more therapist control in guiding the flow of session, based on their expertise. This leads to less beating around the bush and faster results that talk therapy
EMDR involves multitasking in a way that uses it to our advantage (it lessons painful emotions while processing because we can't fully focus on more than one thing)
The nature of how EMDR heals memory networks, is like a gift that keeps on giving. Healing one thing earlier on in your life, is likely to heal related issues, without having to directly target and discuss them.
There is no homework outside of therapy
The work pretty much begins and end in the time that you are paying for therapy.
To read more about how I apply EMDR in my private practice, visit my Therapy Page.
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