Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing (EMDR)
What is EMDR Therapy?
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy is an integrative psychotherapy approach that encourages a client to focus on a distressing memory for brief periods of time while experiencing bilateral stimulation.
How does EMDR work?
Eye movements are used to facilitate bilateral stimulation to the brain, and these eye movements are sometimes also accompanied by very mild tactile stimulation which the client receives in each hand through gently vibrating paddles.
Although the client is fully awake, the bilateral stimulation mimics the Rapid Eye Movement (REM) phase of sleep during which the brain typically processes traumatic or painful memories. EMDR helps a person's brain to reprocess recurrent painful memories. The procedure has been found to cause a reduction in the vividness and emotional pain associated with distressing memories, trauma, and PTSD
When EMDR therapy occurs, the meaning of traumatic memories or negative life events is frequently transformed for clients emotionally. For example, a victim of betrayal trauma shifts from feeling fearful, unsafe, and depressed to feeling emotionally regulated and holding the powerful belief that, “I am strong and I can rebuild my life.” Unlike talk therapy, the insights clients gain in EMDR therapy result not so much from clinician interpretation, but from the client’s own emotional and intellectual processes that have been facilitated by EMDR.
The final result is that clients frequently conclude EMDR therapy feeling empowered by the very experiences that once threatened to destroy them. Their emotional wounds have not just healed, they have frequently transformed. As a natural outcome of the EMDR therapeutic process, clients’ thoughts, feelings and behavior are frequently changed all without speaking in detail or doing homework used in other therapies.
What does EMDR help?
EMDR had been originally established as helpful for PTSD, although it’s been proven useful for treatment in the following conditions:
- Sexual Addiction
- Pornography Addiction
- Disturbing Memories
- Performance Anxiety
- Betrayal Trauma
- Traumas
- Alcohol and Substance Abuse Addictions
- Gambling Addiction
- Stress Reduction
- Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
- Sexual and/or Physical Abuse
- Childhood abandonment, neglect, and abuse
Do none of the above symptoms or experiences fit you?
Do you experience distressing emotions that appear to you, and perhaps to others, to be excessive given the current situation? Do you tend to be highly reactive to certain triggers? Are there one or more dysfunctional beliefs that you believe about yourself that on an intellectual level you know are not true?
If so, you may still be a good candidate for EMDR therapy. Contact Dr. Braun today for a free phone consultation to see if EMDR might help you overcome memories from your past or beliefs that are limiting your potential.
The American Psychiatric Association, the American Psychological Association, the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies, the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill, the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and Department of Defense, The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, and the World Health Organization all recognize EMDR therapy as an effective treatment.