WHAT IS EMDR?

EMDR therapy is an extensively researched method that helps people recover from trauma symptoms. EMDR is also demonstrating to be very effective when applied to anxiety, depression, chronic pain, and other distressing experiences. EMDR treatment can relieve emotional distress, reduce physiological arousal, and support more adaptive thoughts- this can lead to things like improved self-esteem, greater sense of empowerment, elimination of toxic shame or self-blame, and resolution of anger issues.

HOW DOES EMDR WORK?

It is consistently demonstrated through the application of EMDR that the brain naturally moves toward healing (adaptive processing) just like the body naturally moves towards healing. Because of the way EMDR facilitates the healing process from the bottom up and inside out, when this healing occurs, it tends to be permanent. Imagine looking in the mirror at yourself and telling yourself something you WANT to believe. How many times will you have to tell yourself before you actually start to believe it? I often hear clients say, “Well, I logically KNOW _______ is true, but it doesn’t FEEL true.” No matter how much they try to “logic” themselves into knowing/believing something, it just doesn’t fully translate into their felt self. Now imagine if you could know the thing both logically AND in your felt self! No more arguments with yourself—you just…KNOW!

EMDR treatment helps resolve the “stuck” places!

DO I HAVE TO HAVE PTSD TO BENEFIT FROM EMDR TREATMENT?

No! EMDR can effectively be used to resolve stored memories and experiences that continue to cause emotional distress and negative self-beliefs. EMDR helps the brain and nervous system reprocess memories and experiences so that they no longer lead to intense emotional or physical activation. As the healing occurs, these memories and experiences resolve into more adaptive self- beliefs and feelings.

Can EMDR help complex trauma or attachment / relationship trauma?

Yes! EMDR can be highly effective to resolve complex trauma or attachment / relationship trauma! However, safe and effective treatment typically requires a provider who is EMDRIA-certified as the basic “trained” level of EMDR only minimally prepares a clinician to apply EMDR to single-incident trauma experiences. Complex trauma has many more layers and nuances than single-incident traumas and typically includes limited adaptive life and relationship experiences and a much harder time with emotional regulation. A person with complex trauma may be emotionally shut down and have trouble tolerating even the small amount of sympathetic activation that is necessary in order to apply the EMDR “protocol in treatment sessions. Or, on the other hand, a person with complex trauma may quickly over- activate, which means the level of sympathetic arousal in the nervous system will be too high to be able to effectively apply the EMDR “protocol.” An inexperienced or under-skilled clinician will lacks the insight and skill to help clients build the necessary foundation for adequate distress tolerance and emotional regulation before proceeding into deeper levels of trauma reprocessing. This can lead to client harm if the “floodgates” open and a client is unable to tolerate the level of distress or regulate in the face of the distress.

Something else to keep in mind is that most clients do not enter therapy recognizing that they have complex trauma. Often clients come in thinking they simply struggle with anxiety or depression or they are having problems in their relationships. This is another reason why seeking an experienced EMDRIA-certified therapist is important. An EMDRIA-certified therapist will be much more likely to be able to identify when complex trauma is driving the anxiety, depression, or relationship problems. This can mean the difference between treating only from what I call the “front end” vs also recognizing when what I call “back end work” is also necessary.

What does EMDR treatment with Kristin look like?

We will never be doing memory reprocessing at a first visit! The therapy process will start out the same way any kind of therapy treatment starts out with Kristin. The first session (and sometimes second and third sessions) are used to talk about medical history, previous mental/behavioral health treatment, the presenting problem, and will nearly always include some assessments to measure and gather baselines for associated anxiety, depression, and trauma symptoms. These measures will be repeated again at the end of treatment (and sometimes along the way) providing measurable outcomes. It’s always exciting when we do post-measures at the end of treatment demonstrating a complete resolution of PTSD/C-PTSD when the scores were very high and in clinical range at the beginning of treatment.

The next phase of treatment can often take the longest if we are working with complex or attachment / relationship trauma. In this phase of treatment we get to know how your nervous system interacts with yourself, other people, and your environment, and you learn how to regulate your nervous system/ emotions. This may include increasing tolerance for distress (feeling safe enough to FEEL other things!) and / or being able to “down-regulate” your emotions/nervous system to lower your felt level of distress. Most people seeking help to resolve complex or attachment/ relationship trauma need some help with both of these.

When you are able to regulate well enough to be able to access the underlying trauma with the right amount of sympathetic activation (not too little and not too much), we enter the phase of treatment where the eye movements or other bilateral stimulation is applied and we start metabolizing the undigested traumas. In this phase, the amount of unresolved distressful/traumatic material begins to decrease and the adaptive material begins to increase.