EMDR

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing

Articles


Using EMDR to relieve distress and achieve peak performance

By Pamela J. Alexandra, MBA, MFT
Certified in EMDR

WHAT IS EMDR? (Eye Movement Reprocessing)

EMDR is a powerful process, developed by behavioral psychologist Francine Shapiro, which has helped hundreds of thousands of people overcome the effects of anxiety and emotional distress  and to achieve peak performance.
 
Shapiro developed EMDR, which is only taught to clinicians, after a personal discovery.  She found she was less disturbed from thinking of emotional upsets when she repeatedly moved both eyes to the right and then left.
 
EMDR can be used to resolve memories of past difficult emotional experiences which can affect one's current life such as physical and sexual abuse, rape, repeated business or job losses, relationship losses and prolonged grief.  It can also be used to overcome the effects of current problems such as asking a boss for a raise, building the motivation to do a job search, reducing performance anxiety, setting limits with another person, reducing anxiety and distress, and overcoming phobias and panic attacks:
Examples of EMDR successes include: 
 
  • Reducing extreme anxiety from witnessing a suicide so that client's thoughts were no longer disturbing
  • Reducing extreme anxiety and panic caused by a work incident that kept a client from applying for a job
  • Overcoming obstacles that kept a sales client from making cold calls
  • Overcoming belief of being incompetent
  • Overcoming fear caused by previous stalking and physical abuse
EMDR is sometimes helpful when talk pyschotherapy reaches its limits as it may bring up past events to be processed that did not previously arise.  It also helps people achieve their goals though positive imaging or imagining themselves meeting their goals while using EMDR.  It is well known that Olympic champions do positive imaging or imagining at least 15 minutes a day.  EMDR has been found to make this positive imaging even more effective.  EMDR clients often have positive solutions to problems and positive feelings arise naturally in them.
 
HOW DOES EMDR WORK?
 
Research is constantly being conducted to understand how EMDR works.  It is known that it works on the brain and produces a physiological change on a neurological level. We know that when a person becomes very upset by a difficult emotional experience or trauma, there is an overload on the system and information processing is blocked.  There is an over excitation of the brain and a resulting change of neural elements.  It is believed that the upsetting event also prevents REM sleep, the nightly sleep that helps people process normal emotional events of the day.
 
The neurological blockage causes the incident to remain in the body in its anxiety-producing form along with the original thoughts, feelings, flashbacks or nightmare.
 
Shapiro believes that EMDR unlocks the neural channels in the brain and increases REM sleep, allowing the brain to complete the processing which was blocked by the traumatic event.
 
EMDR is not hypnosis, and the client feels more in control as s/he is in a different brain wave state than under hypnosis.  Research shows that the effects of EMDR are long lasting.  One study of 80 subjects with post-traumatic stress improved significantly with EMDR and the beneficial process remained for at least 15 months.
 
HOW LONG DOES EMDR TAKE?
 
One or more sessions area needed for the therapist to understand and the problem to be solved.  A typical course of treatment may be three to ten EMDR sessions, each 60 or 90 minutes long.  EMDR, often used in conjunctions with talk therapy, may take longer, depending on the nature of the trauma and how many times it or related traumas occurred.
 
WHAT IS AN EMDR SESSION LIKE?
 
I typically guide the client to find a safe place in their mind such as a place in the mountains, by the water or at home.  This is to relax the client and to provide a safe internal place for the client to go in case of any of the material experienced is disturbing.   The client always has the option of stopping the session any time s/he pleases.  I then ask the client to describe the disturbing information in detail as well as related emotions, body sensations, and any negative self-assessment that resulted from the incident such as "I'm trapped," "I'm powerless," etc.
 
Depending on the clients preferred method of taking in information, I have him/her process the experience using
eye movements, sounds in alternative ears using earphones or with handles that stimulate each hand with a vibration.  The idea is to obtain bilateral stimulation with these methods.  After the disturbance is reduced, I then ask the client to image the event as she/he would have liked it to happen and continue with the eye movements, sounds or hand sensations.  I keep asking the client to tell me what they are experiencing and guide them through the experience.
 
After an issue is worked through, clients typically feel empowered, less anxious, light, more positive and relieved.  Having removed their blocks, they are able to move forward with the life changes they wish to make.  EMDR does not work for everyone, but the powerful process has helped thousands of people to overcome the effects of anxiety and emotional distress and to achieve peak performance.
 
Minimum training for EMDR practitioners is two three day training sessions.
 
In addition to these trainings, certified practitioners have 20 sessions with a higher level trainer who supervises the practitioners EMDR practice during that period.  Certified practioners have to meet additional EMDR educational requirements every two years.

 Other Directories: 
Therapist's Place | Men's Issues | Counseling Children | EMDR Specialists | Counseling LGBT