EMDR Therapy

Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing Therapy

PTSD (post traumatic stress syndrome) is a whole-body tragedy, an integral human event of enormous proportions with massive repercussions.

Susan Pease Bannitt

In order to illustrate how our brains are "hard-wired," Francine Shapiro, PhD, in her book Getting Past Your Past, suggests an experiment to her readers. She offers a simple phrase and asks the reader to note what first pops into his/her mind. "Roses are red, ________________________." Unless you've never been exposed to this rhyme, "Violets are blue" was the immediate response that popped into your head, whether you wanted it to or not. Shapiro writes, "This is an important concept, since mental responses are based on physical reactions. Your brain is programmed to respond in the same way as the rest of your body. Regardless of age or gender, when your knee is hit in a certain way your leg will jerk. Similarly, regardless of intention, your mind also reacts automatically. Responses are based on physical reactions." ¹ Every experience in our lives is physically stored within networks of brain cells called "neurons." And each and every experience becomes a building block or stepping stone in our inner world, controlling and dictating our reactions to people, places, things, and events—everything in our world. This is wonderful when you can suddenly remember the tune to a song you've not sung in years, or the words to a nursery rhyme you've not heard since childhood, or when the smell of fresh baked bread or a roasting turkey transports you back in time to your grandmother's kitchen during the holidays. It's not so wonderful when that same knee jerk response of your brain floods you with negative reactions, memories, and physical sensations related to trauma, sadness, grief, and pain. We all suffer pain and trauma in our lives, and for the most part our brains process our traumatic experiences during REM sleep. The back and forth movement of the eyes creates a biological connection that allows appropriate neural connections to be made.² Our memories are processed and in this way our brain allows us to learn what is useful, discard what is not, and store the memory in a way that is no longer damaging. But when the brain fails, for whatever reason, to process trauma and pain, we are left with continuing knee jerk reactions to situations that have long since past, even though we are no longer in danger. In other words, the building blocks of our past are continually avalanching into our present, causing us to act, think, and feel in which ways that are no longer applicable to the present and that cause us tremendous suffering. This is known as PTSD (post traumatic stress syndrome).

Benefits of EMDR Therapy

This is where EMDR therapy has proven extremely effective and beneficial in the treatment of PTSD and other lingering effects of trauma. EMDR therapy targets unprocessed memories that contain the negative emotions, sensations, and beliefs related to our traumas. EMDR has been used to successfully treat PTSD (post traumatic stress syndrome) in veterans, abuse victims, and others suffering from its devastating effects. PTSD can be developed from a single traumatic event such as a car wreck, a house fire, or a natural disaster, or from multiple or repeated events such as combat, sexual and physical abuse, or bullying. It is important to note that one does not have to suffer something horrendous to be dealing with PTSD and the negative aftereffects of unprocessed memories. "Everyday life experiences, such as relationship problems or unemployment, can produce just as many, and sometimes even more, symptoms of PTSD."³ A particularly upsetting event in childhood—being left out or ridiculed by classmates or becoming embarrassed during a school play or musical recital—may be considered by most to be the typical stuff of childhood, but when these memories remain unprocessed, they leave the child-grown-into-adult responding in seemingly irrational ways with friends and family, whether at home or at work. How children define and make sense of their world, coupled with the limited amount of reference material they have to compare their experiences to life at large, leaves them particularly vulnerable to unprocessed memories that continue to spawn negative and damaging beliefs, actions, and reactions. As adults we know that most thunderstorms, most neighborhood dogs, and most first days at school are not life-threatening events. But to a child whose cries were not heard during a thunderstorm, who may have been bitten or chased by a neighbor's dog, or who was bullied at school, "life-threatening" takes on new meaning. PTSD makes the past present, regardless of how long ago the past took place.

How do you know if you may benefit from EMDR Therapy?

Most adults have anywhere from one to three traumatic unprocessed events that still influence how they react to certain environments, stimuli, and other people. Adults who survived childhoods containing abuse or extreme poverty, or those who as adults have suffered extreme trauma may have considerably more.

Situations that often leave one with unprocessed memories are:

• Combat or the threat of combat
• Sexual, physical, or emotional abuse
• Extreme poverty
• Natural disasters
• Life-threatening illness or injury
• Becoming the victim of a crime
• School or public place shootings
• Illness or death of a parent in childhood
• Illness or death of a sibling in childhood
• Childhood abandonment
• Childhood bullying
• Uncertainty or lack of physical safety in childhood
• Extreme embarrassment in childhood

Signs that you may be dealing with the aftereffects of unprocessed memories:

• Unexplained fear and anxiety regarding certain situations
• Phobias
• Seemingly irrational or exaggerated reactions to "typical" life situations
• Responding to a person in a certain way simply because they remind you of someone else
• Extreme fears of illness, injury, or death
• The presence of any persistent negative emotion, belief, or behavior

How exactly is EMDR Therapy done?

EMDR is an eight phase therapy that takes place with a therapist trained in EMDR techniques. During EMDR therapy, the client stays awake and is fully in control of all his/her mental capacities. Using eye movements (similar to what happens in REM sleep) or other bilateral stimulation, the brain's information processing system is jump started, allowing rapid connections to be made during the session. The old neural paths in the brain that once led to negative emotions, behaviors, and overwhelming physical sensations are, in effect, "neutralized." New neural paths are established, allowing positive changes in emotions, insights, beliefs, and a greater understanding of one's life, past, and issues. And unlike talk therapy, which requires years to process a traumatic event, EMDR allows most traumas to be processed in a few sessions. Some people feel unsure or skittish about EMDR. It either sounds too good to be true, or it sounds like some kind of crazy "new age" practice. But EMDR therapy is a proven and effective means that allows traumatic memories to be processed and "filed away" appropriately in the brain. And millions of people have found freedom from the debilitating effects of PTSD and past trauma. With the help and skill of a trained EMDR therapist, it is possible to shed old beliefs, damaging emotions, and traumatic memories, along with their accompanying negative physical sensations. It is possible to put the past in the past and to fill the present with positive emotions, helpful beliefs, and newfound freedoms. Note: For more information and a detailed description of the eight phases of EMDR therapy as well as much, much more, please visit www.emdr.com

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¹ Shapiro, Francine. Getting Past Your Past. New York, New York. Rodale, 2012 pg. 2
² Shapiro, Francine. pg. 30
³ Shapiro, Francine. pg. 30