EMDR Explained

EMDR, or its big ass title: Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing, is a therapy tool we use in counselling to help kick away trauma!

HOW IT WORKS

EMDR is based on the idea that our minds can often heal from psychological trauma like the way our bodies recover from physical trauma.

Like...when you cut your hand.

Ever watched your body work to close the wound?

You start to see the blood slow down and collegiate.

And finally the scab comes over until you mindfully pick it off in that boring meeting!

And if you do pick it off...

I’m sure you’re not one of those types but if you did we can reopen the wound and if something irritates that wound, it can get worse and even cause more pain.

But when we treat the wound properly - healing resumes!

Well just like the body, EMDR taps into the BodyMind system which is always naturally moving towards good mental health.

But! If the system is blocked with repeated negative thoughts, triggers, challenging sensations or other traumas, the emotional wound festers and causes suffering.

You don’t have to suffer.

By using EMDR we can remove the trauma and once removed, healing happens.

A client I worked with did EMDR with me and she was unsure at first but she was amazed at how much it helped with mindless binge eating habits she has had since a childhood trauma.

She told me:

‘It helped to start a new habit of mindfully eating - not binge eating every time I was stressed’.

THE PROCESS
During EMDR, we grab a specific issue to focus on, like a current trigger.

We call to mind the issue and connect to the experience, any sensations and what thoughts and beliefs are formed about it all, like I am not good enough.

We then use the eyes and bilateral (side to side) movements to help shift the neurological block in the brain’s information processing system.

This is to start the healing!

THE OUTCOME
The goal is to reduce the specific impacts of trauma.

And EMDR has been studied a lot and said to be 80% effective to heal traumas.

This is what clients say:

‘EMDR was life changing’

‘I didn’t like EMDR initially but I stuck with it and things really shifted. Like a deep grief connected to my grandfather dying and a sense of aloneness I had always felt since he passed (since my parents were never emotionally available). This cleared this feeling that I felt I was alone in life. After that session I noticed how I was connected and my relationships got stronger.’

‘EMDR is pretty weird but good weird!’

WHAT TO EXPECT

We will need a session or two before starting EMDR to set up.

And then after that sometimes we just need one or two sessions more.

But it depends on how many and how old the traumas are.

Typically EMDR is a 6 session model to really give it a good go.

Here's a video that helps explain EMDR.

And you can find more at: EMDR Association of Australia.

NEXT STEPS

If you have questions, want to know more or are ready to book in - make contact today!