WHAT IS EMDR?
You may have noticed a form of therapy called Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) making the rounds on the internet lately: celebrities from Prince Harry to Jameela Jamil have proudly gone public about their transformative experiences in EMDR, and therapists and researchers are all abuzz with discourse trying to understand what sets it apart from other therapies. So what is EMDR and how can it help people?
EMDR is, first and foremost, a trauma treatment. Trauma is an umbrella term used to describe the effects of physical and/or emotional damage. The word “trauma” comes from Greek, meaning “wound” — this etymology reveals our intuitive knowledge that psychological wounds, like physical wounds, take time and tending to in order to heal properly. EMDR defines healing as making meaning out of, or processing, a traumatic experience so that it no longer disturbs us in the present.
When something dangerous, painful, or frightening happens to us, we may develop trauma responses. Trauma responses are natural — they’re how our minds protect us — but can get in the way of living our lives freely if we get stuck in them. Psychologists classify trauma responses into four modes: fight, flight, freeze, and fawn. When we are in these modes, we’re responding to what we perceive as a threat to our survival: we act purely out of self-preservation and lose access to higher processing abilities. In other words, we lose the ability to make sense of what is happening to us. We then can’t put the distressing event behind us because we don’t know on a physical, intellectual, or emotional level that it’s over. If the original traumatic event is not fully processed, future distressing events may act as continual triggers for the trauma response from the initial experience. Trauma becomes a part of our present instead of being contained in the past.
A common misconception is that one must have a ‘big T’ trauma such as experiencing physical violence or childhood abuse in order to benefit from EMDR. However, many of us have had experiences that deeply wounded us which may or may not qualify as a ‘big T’ trauma. For example, chronic invalidation from an important caregiver can also be traumatic. While EMDR was originally formulated for those who carried PTSD diagnoses, studies have since shown that EMDR is equally as effective at helping people work through non-acute psychological trauma, or complex trauma, which can also trap people in trauma responses long after the initial event.
Confronting trauma in a safe enough environment can help our minds relax so that we can make new meanings from difficult experiences and practice responding to trauma triggers differently. I use the phrase “safe enough” because it’s unrealistic to expect someone to feel completely safe when re-experiencing their most painful memories. EMDR therapists practice a variety of grounding techniques that help people contain the difficult feelings that arise during reprocessing. Additionally, EMDR incorporates a somatic technique called bilateral stimulation, which helps to regulate the nervous system while reprocessing trauma.
Starting therapy, let alone trying out a new treatment modality, can feel daunting. If EMDR interests you, I encourage you to reach out to a therapist who has been trained in providing this treatment. Most therapists will offer a free consultation where you can ask any questions you have about their expertise and treatment approaches. When looking for an EMDR therapist, keep an eye out for “EMDR-trained” or “EMDR-certified”; both of these mean that the clinician has undergone formal training by an entity that has been approved by the EMDR International Association. “Certified” practitioners have voluntarily completed additional hours of training; certification is not required for therapists to practice EMDR. This therapy is an exciting treatment that engages the body in a different way than therapies that came before it. Researchers, practitioners, and clients know it works, but it may not work for everyone. You may just have to experience it and decide for yourself.
- Emily Liu, MHC-LP