EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization & Reprocessing)

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing is a therapy specifically used for the treatment of psychological trauma. It is a recommended trauma treatment in many national and international guidelines, such as The World Health Organisation, the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies and the guidelines of the National Institute for Health and care Excellence (NICE) which inform and guide healthcare services provided through the NHS. Sometimes, when someone experiences a traumatic event the memory can intrusively return forcing the person to relive the event with the same intensity of feeling. This may be because at the time of the event the brain was too overwhelmed to process what was going on. As a result of this these unprocessed memories and the sights and thoughts linked with the event are stored in the brain in a ‘raw’ form and are then accessed when something in the day triggers a recollection of the original event.

The process of EMDR can alter the way these traumatic memories are stored within the brain making them easier to recall and to manage. The common aims of EMDR therapy are to reduce the re-experiencing of trauma memories and to help you feel more able to cope with and manage trauma memories without needing to avoid potential triggers. In turn this can reduce feelings of stress, anxiety, irritation and hyper-vigilance. EMDR may be used as a stand alone therapy or may be woven into longer therapy or may be woven into longer term working where specific memories are worked on.

If you would like to read more about EMDR please follow the link to the UK
and Ireland EMDR Association for further information on EMDR Therapy: https://emdrassociation.org.uk

EMDR – PREPARATION

THE THEORY
The eye movements we use in EMDR seem to unlock the nervous system and allow your brain to process the experience. That may be what is happening in REM or dream sleep: the eye movement may be involved in processing the unconscious material. The important thing to remember is that it is your own brain that will be doing the healing and that you are the one in control. Often when something traumatic happens, it seems to get locked in the nervous system with the original picture, sounds, thoughts, feelings and so on. Since the experience is locked there it continues to be triggered whenever a reminder comes up. It can be the basis for a lot of discomfort and sometimes a lot of negative emotions, such as fear and helplessness that we can’t seem to control. These are emotions that are connected with the old experience being triggered.

THE MODEL
Disturbing events can be stored in the brain in an isolated memory network. This prevents learning from taking place. The old material just keeps getting triggered over and over again. In another part of your brain, in a separate network is most of the information you need to resolve it. It’s just prevented from linking up to the old stuff. Once we start processing with EMDR the two networks can link up. New information can come to mind and resolve the old problems. Although unpleasant pictures, sensations, or emotions may come up as we do the eye movements, you can stop the process whenever you want simply by raising your hand like this. However, I will encourage you to continue if possible, but also respect your decision. The idea is that if you want to drive through a dark tunnel quickly, you keep your foot on the accelerator. If you take your foot off, you slow down and coast. So to get through unpleasant emotions, keeping eyes moving will get us through more quickly. As we do the set of eye movements, try to remember that we are only processing old stuff. It may feel real but it’s just the old memories locked in the nervous system. The idea is to let the brain become unlocked and let the information in this.

SETTING EXPECTATIONS
As we process the information and digest the old events; pictures, sensations or emotions may arise but your job is to just notice them, just let them happen. Imagine you are on a train and the scenery is passing by. Just notice the scenery without trying to grab hold of it or make it significant. I will start by asking you to focus on a target memory. Then I will ask you to follow my fingers with your eyes. After we do that for a while, we will stop and talk about anything that comes up. You can’t keep a picture steady while the eye movements are going on, so don’t try. When we talk you just need to give me feedback on what is happening for you. Sometimes things will change and sometimes they won’t. There are no ‘supposed to’s’ in this process, so just let whatever happens, happen.