Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing Therapy

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing Therapy:

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing has quickly become a useful tool for clinicians in the treatment of both Panic Disorders and Chronic pain, such as migraines. EMDR reduces the inflammation in the body, and supports the re-balancing of the nervous system EMDR is a relatively new treatment modality based on the premise that the symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder are the result of memories and experiences being stored in the brain in a manner that is not functional for the client.

Emotional Responses or Physical Symptoms May Be Stored in the Body.

Nightmares, flashbacks and intense emotional dysregulation are signs of this non-adaptive storage of experiences in the brain. Emotional responses or physical symptoms may be stored in the body. This reprocessing therapy was developed in 1987 and has been heavily studied across the globe, and simply put, it can produce incredible results, and reduce a great deal of suffering (Shapiro, 2018).

Through connecting the mind/body experience, and using an eight phase, three-pronged protocol, EMDR therapists are able to support clients to reprocess difficult memories that their bodies and brains are holding on to. It is often these memories which are causing relationship challenges, and both intense depressive or anxious/panicked symptoms. When the target or symptom is related to a distress memory, EMDR is able to de-intensify negative images, beliefs and emotions. That is, clients are able to recall these events, but their psychological and physiological responses are much less intense, and more neutral. The three pronged protocol assists clients to 1) learn from the negative experiences of the past, 2) de-sensitize present triggers that are inappropriately distressing, and 3) incorporate templates for appropriate future action, or replace the intensity with a more neutral or calming viewpoint. As noted by world renound EMDR researcher and practioner, Francine Shapiro, “EMDR therapy brings together aspects of many psychological orientations: the attention to etiological events underscored by psychodynamic theory, the conditioned responses highlighted by behaviour therapy, the body sensations of somatic therapies, the imagery work of hypnotic therapies, and the contextual understanding of systems theory (Shapiro, 2018, p.3).