Part 1: EMDR
what is it & why it is a successful therapy tool
“Just don't stop. It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.”
Me on Three Capes hike in Tassie 2023…
These words are often attributed to Confucius. These words resonate so strongly for me, because if I had stopped learning, seeking and believing I could heal from traumas in my past I would not have discovered EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) therapy.
I cannot tell you what it is that kept me seeking. I feel I have always had an inner drive to live a happier and more content life. In my late 20’s I finally realised the only reason I wasn’t happy, nor living a content life was due to something within me. I could no longer blame my parents, siblings, employers or friends. I had to learn how to be happy within myself. This realisation took me on a very long journey which ultimately led me to where I am today, and it was EMDR therapy which assisted in reprocessing traumas from my childhood from as young as six months old.
This blog is part one of a series of three. This will be a brief introduction to EMDR, the next will discuss trauma and the third will go more deeply into explaining how EMDR can assist individuals.
What is EMDR
EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) therapy is a structured psychotherapy that helps individuals process distressing memories, thoughts, and feelings related to traumatic or other adverse experiences. We all experience distressing events throughout our lives and when this occurs it seems that the high level of arousal caused at the time, can result in the memory of the event being stored with the original emotions, physical sensations and beliefs. This lays the foundations for a range of possible symptoms which we continually live with throughout our lives. These symptoms can range from negative feelings, negative beliefs and self-talk, poor sleep patterns and a reactive behavioural response to normal daily events. For a large number of individuals, it does not matter how much effort/time/energy they have put into building good coping strategies, when their nervous system filters in sensory information as a threat, they will instantly revert to their protective behaviours (symptoms) which can include negative feelings, beliefs, self-talk and behaviour.
Following the standard protocol of EMDR therapy allows an individual to reprocess the original emotions, physical sensations and beliefs in an adaptive way resulting in a reduction and/or total removal of the negative symptomology.
Why EMDR therapy
EMDR Therapy is an evidence-based psychological treatment used effectively by psychologists and psychiatrists internationally for more than 25 years. EMDR therapy has been extensively researched as effective for problems based on earlier traumas. When we are impacted as a young child, we may not recall the event on a conscious level, however our nervous system (body) remembers. And this is what EMDR therapy can allow an individual to access and reprocess. Distressing events which we have no conscious memory of! And this is why I value this therapy so highly.
Next blog I will go into trauma and the possible impacts of this on an individual’s life.
Love, health and happiness to you all.
Cath