EMDR

Hello Reader,

“It’s been a while since the last blog!” – Reader

Yes, I hope you have been able to take care of your mental health since the last time we talked!

“I have! It has been difficult, but I understand it is a journey and not a destination when it comes to taking care of my mental health.” – Reader

Great job! I knew you could do it!

“I do have a question because I’ve been hearing about it a lot.” – Reader

Yes??

“EMDR. We talked about a few different modalities, but we didn’t touch on EMDR. What is that??”

Ahh yes, EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) is becoming very popular recently. EMDR is an evidence-based approach to processing past traumas that involves bilateral stimulation while processing trauma. In doing so, the intensity of the trauma is often reduced. A therapist uses different methods to provide bilateral stimulation. This might be moving their hand side to side in front of you, it might be yourself tapping your feet in rhythm, or maybe even just clicks going from one ear to another via headphones. Neurologically, there is much more happening here so be prepared for nerd time!

Nerd time! A place where we use a lot of buzz words and get very clinical! There is a wonderful study that sought out to explore what is happening in the brain when conducting EMDR. First, when we experience trauma, our pre-frontal cortex is less active and our amygdala is hyperactive. This is why it is difficult to think rationally when feeling overwhelmed and/or when we get triggered and have a trauma response. We often act irrationally in those moments. The traumatic memory gets “stuck” because our brain sees this situation as something important to retain for survival. Amygdala is active and pre-frontal cortex is less active. Emotional part of the brain is active and the logical side is less active. How does EMDR impact this process?

In short, the bilateral stimulation in combination with re-processing the event helps calm the amygdala in which can help reduce the intensity of the feelings and contribute to re-processing memories. Here is a link to the study if you are even more curious about it,

https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01935/full#B46

If you choose to go the route of EMDR, keep in mind that it is a process and as you re-process past traumas in a healthy way, strong feelings and emotions will come up. You're feelings and emotions are meant to be felt! Don't be afraid of feeling them! If you have a trained therapists, they will help you feel your emotions in a safe way. After the session, it is also important for you to continue to regulate yourself. Get some food, go for a walk, splash your face with some cold water, start planning for the rest of your day. Remember, you are not your past so be kind to yourself, take your time. The past can be emotional but you are in charge of creating your future.

Key takeaways:

1)      EMDR is an evidence-based approach to re-processing past trauma.

2)      There are many ways to do bilateral stimulation so work with your therapist to find what works for you.

3)      Re-processing trauma can be heavy so find methods to leave the past in the past and strive to better your future.