EMDR - What you need to know.

Did you know that there is a type of therapy popular for its effectiveness in quickly treating various mental health issues? Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing Therapy (EMDR) is, to therapists, a powerful tool that can be used to treat anxiety, trauma, phobias, or other emotional problems in a shorter amount of time than other traditional forms of therapy. This type of therapy has been studied extensively and shown to be a very effective tool used by many mental health professionals today.

Sounds great, right? Well, to understand this therapy and why it has captured so much attention, it is crucial to understand the story behind how EMDR was created and how it has evolved throughout the years. Read on to learn more about how Dr. Francine Shapiro, a renowned psychologist and educator, developed this non-traditional type of treatment, surprisingly, while on a walk one day.

The Story Behind EMDR

On a spring afternoon in 1987, a young psychology student went on a walk through a park to clear her head. There had been an upsetting memory on her mind that she hadn't been able to shake for the past few hours. Looking for something to distract herself, she started darting her eyes back and forth. As she continued her walk through the park, she noticed the memory soon began to fade away. When the memory faded, the upsetting feeling that had been plaguing her for hours lifted. The eye movements seemed to have a desensitizing effect on her memory. Little did she know, Francine Shapiro had uncovered something that would shape her future and impact trauma therapy for decades to come.

She found this experience fascinating and began testing this phenomenon while working through her graduate degree. Through her experiments, she discovered that others also experienced the same desensitizing response to the eye movements, and their distressing memories began to fade away too. However, the eye movements themselves did not create a comprehensive therapeutic effect that would make it suitable for treatment. So, over the years, Dr. Francine Shapiro then added elements of other powerful treatments, such as cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT), in doing so, creating a procedure called Eye Movement Desensitization (EMD). After completing her graduate degree, Dr. Francine Shapiro continued to develop and test this treatment over the years until she eventually developed the therapy we know and love today; Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing Therapy (EMDR).

EMDR Today

Today, Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing Therapy (EMDR) is a popular type of mental health treatment used by many mental health professionals. It can be used to treat children, youth/teens, and adults. It has been extensively tested on individuals with PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder), trauma, anxiety, phobias, or other emotional problems and has shown to be highly effective and powerful. It is a powerful form of treatment used to alleviate distressing symptoms that come with a wide range of mental health issues. It has gained significant attention for its effectiveness in treating post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in particular.

EMDR is guided by the Adaptive Information Processing Model, which considers symptoms of PTSD and other disorders a result of past disturbing experiences that have not been processed fully. The idea is that the unprocessed memory contains emotions and physical experiences that will continue to be triggered if unprocessed. It is an individual therapy typically delivered one to two times weekly for 6-12 sessions. However, there have been many people who have found this therapy has worked for them in fewer sessions.

How it Works

A core principle of EMDR Therapy is that traumatic experiences can be processed and integrated into a person's memory, leading to healing and growth. The treatment involves an eight-phase approach that integrates elements of cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) with eye movements. Unlike other forms of therapy that focus on altering the emotions, thoughts, and/or responses resulting from traumatic experiences, EMDR therapy directly targets the memory and how it is stored in the brain. The goal is to change the way the memory is stored, in doing so, eliminating the problematic symptoms.

In the case of PTSD, for example, the eight stages may be structured like this...

• Phase 1: History-taking (getting background information and identifying targets for

treatment)

• Phase 2: Preparing the client (may include an explanation of EMDR, practicing eye

movements, preparing exercises)

• Phase 3: Assessing the target memory

• Phases 4-7: Processing the memory to adaptive resolution

• Phase 8: Evaluating treatment results

One of the many things people love about EMDR Therapy is that it takes a different approach to trauma therapy by not using extended exposure to the distressing memory or going into detailed descriptions of the trauma.

EMDR at Brookhaven Psychotherapy

Brookhaven Psychotherapy also offers EMDR Therapy as a treatment option. Tessa Zadorsky is a registered social worker and psychotherapist at Brookhaven Psychotherapy. She is EMDR trained and can offer sessions virtually or in person. She has 10+ years of experience and specializes in treating adolescents (12-17) and adults up to 40 years old. To learn more about how our clinic can help you, contact us today for more information.

Learn More about Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) here