What is EMDR?

EMDR or Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing is the recommended gold standard therapy for Trauma, however it has also proven effective for anxiety, depression, obsessive compulsive disorders, addiction, personality disorders and a range of other presenting difficulties.

EMDR was created in the late 1980’s by Francis Shapiro, a psychologist who noticed that certain eye movements led to the reduction in intensity and distress associated with certain thoughts and feelings.

EMDR is based on the idea that difficult or traumatic experiences can get ‘stuck’ in the emotional centre of the brain where they continue to be activated and influence someone’s thoughts, emotions and behaviours. EMDR aims to help people process these experiences and then re-process them in a more adaptive way, linking them to positive beliefs and experiences that an individual holds about themselves.

There are eight phases to EMDR

1. History Taking and Assessment- In this you will be asked all about your history and events related to the negative experience. You will be asked what you would like to be different if the processing is successful (i.e. your goals) and you will be asked to complete a number of different questionnaires. These all help to make sure EMDR is the right treatment for you.
2. Preparation- This stage involves your therapist taking you through the EMDR process, what it is, how it works, what it will look like. You will also spend some time in this phase getting lots of skills and strategies. EMDR can sometimes bring up strong emotions and thoughts, so its important you have the skills to manage these before you start. Some great activities in this phase can include developing a calm place, understanding emotions, behavioural strategies to manage emotions, breathing training and more.
3. Target Assessment- In this stage you will work with your therapist to decide which memories and experiences to process. You will identify related beliefs about yourself both positive and negative and discuss how the experience impacts your emotions and physical sensations in your body.
4. Desensitisation- This is the core of EMDR. This is where the processing happens. The great thing about EMDR, as a client, you cannot do anything wrong! Your role is to notice your thoughts and feelings, observe where your mind takes you and allow it to do what it needs to do. During this phase, you want to be a passenger on a train, observing everything as you pass, but not experiencing it again or latching on to any of it. Just watch it as is passes. During the desensitisation phase your therapist will introduce the eye movements (or a similar side to side tapping- e.g. tapping your feet, crossing your arms and tapping your shoulders or using thera-tappers- little buzzers that you hold and they do the work).
5. Integration of the positive belief- In this phase you will continue the Eye movement while your therapist helps you to integrate your positive belief about yourself. This phase is also known as installation and is where the old experience can be logically combined with your positive self-belief.
6. Body Scan- this is where we aim to reduce any remaining body sensation associated with the experiences. We want your body to be tension free as much as possible. Tension is associated with anxiety and distress, so reducing this allows a decrease in distress.
7. Closure- In this phase you can close off that memory. You can either contain it if further processing is needed next session, or debrief the memory and experience with your therapist.
8. Re-evaluation- At the next session, you and your therapist will re-evaluate the experience that you processed, making sure that it is fully processed. You may also begin to look at other memories or future worries that are related.

How long does this take?

How long is a piece of string? EMDR can take anywhere from 2+ sessions, each memory processed can be a single session or many. This is something to discuss with your therapist. It is important to always feel grounded before leaving each session, especially if your experience has not been fully processed.

EMDR is a fascinating and super effective therapy style. Speak to your therapist, see if this could be the right fit for you.