Are you thinking about starting trauma therapy?
There is no shame in seeking help. There are so many ways for the world to harm queer folks in deep, lasting ways–seeking help is an act of bravery!
If you’re considering therapy to help heal your trauma, one of your options is called EMDR.
What is EMDR?
EMDR stands for Eye Motion Desensitization and Reprocessing, and it was originally developed as a type of trauma therapy. Since it was developed in the 1980s by Francine Shapiro, Ph.D., however, it has been used to treat other mental health conditions like anxiety, depression, OCD, eating disorders, and substance use disorder. EMDR helps to alleviate distress by properly processing traumatic experiences using eye movements. If that sounds strange, don’t worry–we’ll explain!
How does EMDR work?
EMDR is based on the Adaptive Information Processing (AIP) theory developed by Shapiro. This theory explains how the brain normally encodes memories and connects them together and how trauma interrupts that process.
Shapiro argues that our brains, like our bodies, work toward healing, though sometimes that process gets disrupted. Think about when you get a cut–your body automatically starts the healing process to clot the injury. Our brains automatically work to process our memories and thoughts and experiences each day.
When trauma gets in the way of that process (imagine a splinter that gets in the way of the cut we just talked about) this natural process can’t occur. When you experience trauma, your brain isn’t able to process memories correctly, like a wound that doesn’t heal properly. This leads to the distress that trauma survivors experience. When these traumatic memories are not processed correctly by the brain, survivors experience flashbacks and intense emotional and physical sensations.
This is where EMDR comes in.
Shapiro noticed while on a walk that she felt less distressed by her own traumatic memories when moving her eyes. This led her to develop EMDR over many years of research. EMDR uses bilateral stimulation, typically eye movements, but sometimes shoulder tapping or tones played in headphones or blinking lights, to help you become desensitized to the distressing memories and negative beliefs you have about yourself. You’ll also use the bilateral stimulation to help you rebuild more positive beliefs over the negative ones.
During EMDR therapy, you will be asked to recall distressing memories while using bilateral stimulation, like moving your eyes back and forth, and notice your body sensations, thoughts, and feelings you have while you do. You’ll also be asked to pick out positive beliefs that you will use the eye movements to “install” once the negative memories have been desensitized and reprocessed.
What happens in EMDR therapy?
The process doesn’t start by having you recall your distressing memories right away. EMDR is an 8 phase treatment that begins with taking your history and preparing you by teaching you coping skills to use throughout the process so that you can feel appropriately resourced during the process. The phases of EMDR are:
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History taking: Your therapist will ask you about your background and what brings you in for therapy.
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Preparation: Your therapist will teach you the process of EMDR and answer your questions. They will also give you coping skills and help you practice them so that you feel confident using them during the rest of the phases as needed.
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Assessment: Before you begin reprocessing, you’ll discuss with your provider the negative memories and beliefs you’d like to target, as well as the positive beliefs you’d like to install during the installation phase. You’ll work with your therapist to measure things like your cognition, distress level, and affect using diagnostic scales that you’ll continue to reference throughout the EMDR process.
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Desensitization and Reprocessing: In this phase, you will be asked to recall distressing memories while using bilateral stimulation, like moving your eyes back and forth, and notice your body sensations, thoughts, and feelings you have while you do.
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Installation: You’ll use the eye movements to install the positive beliefs you picked out in phase 3 once the negative memories have been desensitized and reprocessed.
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Body Scan: You’ll use the scales from phase 3 to measure your body sensations and distress levels when recalling the negative memory to get a sense of if it’s been correctly reprocessed. When it’s correctly reprocessed, your distress should be very low or even gone.
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Closure: Your therapist brings the session to a close and helps stabilize you so you can go home and feel calm. You’ll talk about what to do if you experience any negative symptoms like flashbacks between sessions.
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Re-evaluation: You’ll discuss your progress and whether you need any further sessions to target other memories or beliefs. If you’ve targeted all of the negative memories you want to, you’ll practice what to do if things come up in the future.
How is EMDR different from talk therapy?
One of the main differences between EMDR and talk therapy is that EMDR doesn’t require you to fully talk through the memory to experience the benefits. You’ll be asked to recall it, but you don’t have to put it into words, and you only have to recall it for a few minutes at a time while monitoring your distress levels with your therapist the entire time.
Another benefit of EMDR is that it tends to work faster than talk therapy. What can take years of processing in talk therapy can take a few months in EMDR. When people are living with the effects of trauma, it’s a big deal to actually find something that makes a difference quickly.
When is EMDR needed?
EMDR was originally developed as a trauma treatment, so it can be helpful if you have PTSD or C-PTSD. Research has also shown that it can be helpful if you have OCD, an eating disorder, anxiety, depression, substance use disorder, or even if you’re grieving.
EMDR at G&STC
At the Gender & Sexuality Therapy Center, we provide trauma therapy, including EMDR, that meets you where you are, builds safety, and supports you as you heal at your own pace. Our clinicians specialize in trauma-informed therapy, EMDR, CBT, and mind-body approaches to healing. We are accepting new clients – schedule an appointment today to get started.