Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy is a science-backed modality that is often used to help individuals dealing with trauma and PTSD.
Unlike many traditional talk therapies, EMDR utilizes bilateral stimulation to actually change the way your brain processes a traumatic event. While it doesn’t “erase” the event from your memory, it shifts the way you see it, so it doesn’t feel so vivid, frightening, or overwhelming.
If you’re struggling with the effects of PTSD, EMDR could be the solution you’ve been looking for. Let’s take a closer look at some of the basics of this therapy, what to expect, and how it can aid in PTSD recovery.
Accessing Memories in a Safe Space
When you’re dealing with PTSD, you can experience symptoms like flashbacks and nightmares. You might feel like you can’t escape the memories of your trauma. So, why would you want to access them again?
EMDR therapy provides a safe space to access those memories — including ones you might be repressing or ones stored in the body. Accessing these memories is the first step in neutralizing them and eventually reprocessing them.
Bilateral Stimulation
As you focus on a particular traumatic event, your therapist will move their finger or an object back and forth and ask you to follow it with your eyes. This is called bilateral stimulation.
Bilateral stimulation can help to desensitize the painful memories so they are no longer in control. Once they’re desensitized, you can replace them with more positive thoughts. Negative beliefs quickly start to fade away, and you’ll feel like you have more power over the experience you went through.
Symptom Reduction
EMDR is considered a short-term therapy. The goal is to reprocess the way a traumatic memory is stored in the brain. Using bilateral stimulation to do that, you’ll experience fewer negative symptoms.
Again, the memories don’t necessarily disappear, but they won’t seem as scary as they once did. You’ll realize you are in control and those upsetting memories don’t have to dictate your life forever.
A Fresh Start
At the end of your EMDR sessions, your therapist will perform a body scan. This allows them to determine if you’re still storing trauma anywhere. If you are, your sessions will continue to work on accessing that trauma and releasing it to make way for more positive ways of thinking.
With that in mind, you can take comfort in knowing you won’t be “left alone” after just a few EMDR sessions. Your therapist won’t stop helping you until you’re able to release all of your trauma and take your thoughts captive.
Is EMDR Right for You?
Dealing with PTSD can be incredibly scary and make you feel both helpless and hopeless. It’s not always easy to reach out for help, or even lean on your existing support system.
It’s also not always easy to open up about your experience, especially to a therapist. Talk therapy has many benefits, and there is some talking involved in EMDR. But, most of the experience will focus on the desensitizing and reprocessing areas of treatment. If you’re uncomfortable with the idea of opening up to a therapist and talking for hours, EMDR might be the right move.
You don’t have to live with the effects of PTSD forever. It doesn’t have to control your life or the way you see the world — or yourself.
If you want to learn more about EMDR therapy and how it can help with your PTSD recovery, don’t hesitate to contact a Crossroads’ therapist for information. Together, we’ll work through the process of neutralizing your traumatic memories so you can start to see the world from a more positive perspective.
Our team of trauma therapists would be happy to help you identify and overcome emotional, relational, mental, and spiritual trauma in your life. We have offices in Phoenix, Scottsdale, and in all of Arizona through online counseling for trauma. To start trauma therapy please follow these simple steps:
- Contact Crossroads Counseling
- Meet with a trauma therapist
- Start your healing journey
To learn more about our intensive trauma therapy program click here.
Call us for trauma therapy at 623-680-3486,text 623-688-5115, or email info@crossroadsfcc.com.
