I am a chartered clinical psychologist who works with individuals experiencing a wide range of issues including depression, grief, abuse, complex trauma, PTSD, anxiety and self-harm.
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) Therapy
‘EMDR may be able to unlock your innate, physiological healing system and allow you to change at a rate and in a way you never thought possible’
- Francine Shapiro
WHAT IS EMDR?
EMDR is an acronym for Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing, an innovative psychological treatment developed by Dr Francine Shapiro in 1987.
EMDR integrates many of the successful elements of different evidence-based treatments. It is based on the Adaptive Information Processing (AIP) model and involves talking, creative imagination and dual attention stimulation (DAS) in the form of bilateral eye movements, pulsers, tapping, or auditory tones that alternate between the left and right side of the body. The aim is to reduce distress and change negative beliefs associated with disturbing life experiences from the past that continue to have a significant impact on mental health in the present.
HOW DOES EMDR WORK?
EMDR is based on the premise that there is an innate capacity to process information in the brain and this gets ‘blocked’ when traumatic or overwhelming events are experienced causing them to get ‘locked’ in the nervous system with the original picture, sounds, thoughts, smells, feelings and body sensations. So later on, whenever a reminder of the event occurs, the original pictures, thoughts, smells, feelings and body sensations may get triggered and are re-experienced. According to Dr. Shapiro, many emotional problems are manifestations of old unprocessed trauma memories that are physiologically stored in the brain.
EMDR works in two very important ways; it helps to “unlock” the negative memories and emotions stored in the nervous system and helps the brain to successfully access and re-process the experience which then enables insufficiently processed material to become fully integrated into a more adaptive perspective.
The process is mediated by different forms of alternating bi-focal stimulation which facilitates communication across left and right hemispheres of the brain and leads to the alleviation of emotional and physiological distress, changes in images, feelings, or beliefs regarding the original event and the development of new cognitive insights.
Courtesy of EMDR International Association
WHAT DOES EMDR TREATMENT HELP WITH?
EMDR is typically known as a ‘trauma therapy ‘and has been found to be effective in helping individuals who have experienced ‘traumatic incidents’ such as accidents, assaults, bullying, domestic violence, traumatic childbirth experiences, rape, loss, war trauma, torture, and natural or man-made disasters.
EMDR has been successfully used to treat the symptoms of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and associated symptoms such as anxiety, depression, phobias, anger, guilt, addictions, chronic pain and chronic fatigue, performance anxiety, low self-esteem, anger and other anxiety-related disorders and difficulties of self-regulation such as panic attacks.
EMDR is also now used as an effective form of psychotherapy for people who have experienced adversities arising from early childhood experiences (abuse and/or neglect) and relational trauma.
How many sessions will I need?
With single-event traumas or experiences in adult life, EMDR can be remarkably rapid in its effects, and average treatment times for these kinds of problems are from 6 to 8 sessions. With more “complex” (developmental) or multiple traumas, treatment can take much longer.
EVIDENCE-BASE FOR EMDR?
EMDR is an effective, powerful and gentle therapy with a strong research base.
EMDR therapy is now validated as an evidence-based approach by over 20 randomized controlled clinical trials (the gold standard research method). It is one of only two treatments approved by NICE for symptoms of psychological trauma and is recognised by the World Health Organisation (WHO), the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies (ISTSS), The Office of VA/DoD and the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) as an effective treatment for people who have experienced traumatic events.
Advances are constantly being made in our understanding of the neurological underpinnings of many psychological conditions. Research has demonstrated that EMDR therapy successfully reduces the vividness, somatic arousal, and emotional intensity associated with distressing memories (Barrowcliff et al., 2004; van den Hout et al., 2013).
If EMDR treatment doesn’t sound right for you, there are other therapy treatments that I offer which may be more suitable.
Further information about efficacy research including full references can be found at: https://www.emdria.org/page/emdrarticles and http://www.emdr-europe.org.