EMDR therapy is an eight-phase treatment that uses eye movements (or other bilateral stimulation such as tapping) are used during one part of the session. After determining which memory to target first, I will ask the client to hold different aspects of that event or thought in mind and to track my hand as it moves back and forth across the client’s field of vision. As this happens, for reasons believed by a Harvard researcher to be connected with the biological mechanisms involved in Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep, internal associations arise and the clients begin to process the memory and disturbing feelings. In successful EMDR therapy, the meaning of painful events is transformed on an emotional level. For instance, a war veteran shifts from feeling horror and anxiety to holding the firm belief that, “I survived it and I am strong.” Unlike traditional talk therapy, the insights clients gain in EMDR therapy result not so much from the therapist’s interpretation, but from the client’s own accelerated intellectual and emotional processes. The final effect is that clients end EMDR therapy feeling empowered by the very experiences that once debased them. Their wounds have not just closed, they have transformed. As a natural outcome of the EMDR therapeutic process, the clients’ thoughts, feelings and behavior are all robust indicators of emotional health and resolution-all without speaking in detail or doing homework used in other therapies.
This video may help to answer some questions about EMDR:
Courtesy of EMDR International Association
Please feel free to visit www.EMDR.com or the international site www.EMDRIA.org for more information.
References
EMDR (2018). What is EMDR? http://www.EMDR.com Retrieved October 10, 2018, from http://www.emdr.com/what-is-emdr/
Caroline Gonzales, LPC is Certified in the use of a method called Eye Movement Desensitization & Reprocessing or EMDR. She is also an EMDR Consultant, so she is able to provide consultation for EMDR for hours needed for the Basic Training completion of Weekend 1 or 2 and 20 supervised hours needed for certification. Contact Caroline for more details: info@stillwaterccs.net
Jennifer Yarbrough, LPC-S, is trained in EMDR methods.
Dr. Melissa Lee, LCSW, is trained in EMDR methods.
Terri Lewis, LPC-Associate, is trained in EMDR methods.