How EMDR Can Help You Put the Past to Rest
The past can be haunting.
It has a way of sneaking up on you in the moments you least expect or desire. In a quiet, ordinary moment, your whole mood can change if events or emotions are left unprocessed or unresolved.
When you experienced something traumatic, it can be challenging to move on from the situation. Traumatic events are the situations that leave you scared, scarred, and constantly on edge. Trauma does not look the same for everyone, but some common traumatic events are:
Domestic or sexual abuse
Car accidents
Child abuse
Witnessing a crime
After a traumatic event, many people may experience symptoms such as:
Difficulty sleeping
Memory loss
Panic attacks
Nightmares
Difficulty concentrating
Avoidance
When someone has trouble moving on from a traumatic experience, it can affect every part of their life. No matter how much time has passed, there is hope that you can move on despite the experience. Through therapies such as EMDR, you can find healing and a renewed sense of peace.
What Is EMDR?
EMDR, or Eye Movement Desensitization, is a therapeutic method that was originally created to help people heal from trauma and PTSD. However, in the years since, it is proving itself to be an effective way to treat a variety of mental health issues - including anxiety, depression, and grief.
Generally, there is an assumption that it takes years to fully heal from traumatic events. However, thanks to therapeutic methods such as EMDR, this is not the case. Yet, most people have never even heard of EMDR, let alone realize how effective it is in treating the lingering effects of their traumatic experiences.
How Does It Work?
With EMDR therapy, there are eight phases to the treatment. These occur over several weeks. In one part of the session, eye movements, or bilateral stimulation, are used. During this time, the therapist and client will determine which memory to target first. Then, the client will be asked to think about certain aspects of the event that causes them distress. Using their eyes, the client will track the therapist's hand as it moves back and forth within their field of vision.
How Does EMDR Help With Trauma?
It Assists With Memory Reprocessing
One of the biggest aspects holding people back from healing from trauma is inaccurate or unhelpful memory processing.
Often, people who survive trauma store the memory in a maladaptive way. Working with an EMDR therapist directly can help bring the memory of the event to the forefront in a healthy, safe way. The eye movements encouraged during this therapy are linked to the rise of internal memories. These eye movements are used to help to process the memory and the disturbing feelings associated with trauma.
It Helps To Set Targets
Trauma can be complicated and trying to deal with it on your own is challenging. A key factor regarding EMDR therapy is that it helps clients set specific targets during the first few initial phases.
Working with their therapist, they will typically identify three things:
The imagery associated with the painful memory
Any emotions or body sensations related to the memory
A negative belief about themselves
In this way, it creates stepping stones by which to identify the parts of the trauma causing the most distress.
Additionally, the therapist will ask the client to identify a positive belief they have about themselves. As the EMDR sessions progress, it is usually found that the positive belief identified is recalled more often than the negative ones.
Trauma Is A Complicated Knot
Finally, unraveling the interwoven parts of trauma is challenging. It is usually so complicated and intertwined with the body and mind that most people find themselves stuck in a cycle of suffering.
If you have gone through a traumatic event that you can't seem to move past, you are not alone. You don't have to stay stuck in self-doubt and negativity. If you are ready to see how trauma therapy. can help you heal, please connect with us today.