Created by Dr. Francine Shapiro, Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is an evidence-based therapy that focuses on how the past informs the present. EMDR specifically targets the neurobiology of how our brain encodes memories of emotionally charged experiences and creates either adaptive or negative beliefs about ourselves and the world around us. Once emotionally charged and unpleasant memories are encoded, the associated negative beliefs become fixed and damage our identity over time. Simultaneously, new and pleasant experiences are difficult to encode and adaptively shift the negative beliefs that have been formed.
For example, an individual who has experienced harsh criticism from others throughout their life has learned that they aren’t good enough. This belief about themself tends to cloud how they feel about themselves, their ability to succeed at work, and makes them doubt that they’re enough for their partner. Simultaneously, even when they have positive experiences that make them feel worthy, these experiences don’t seem to change how they feel about themselves long-term.
EMDR helps individuals reprocess and encode long-standing negative beliefs about themselves by allowing the brain to re-examine and adaptively shift what has been encoded. EMDR specifically uses bilateral stimulation to activate the brain’s ability to review and update information that has been stored long-term. Individuals who engage in EMDR tend to feel unstuck from the past and feel more grounded in the present and hopeful for the future.
A General Outline of EMDR
History Taking
Get to know what brings you into therapy:
Identify your negative belief about yourself (e.g., “I’m worthless”) and the events that have led to that belief.
Identify the adaptive belief (e.g., “I matter enough to take up space”) that you would like to believe about yourself, and any events that have strengthened that belief.
Preparation
Build a foundation of skills and exercises that will help ground your mind and body before, during, or after reprocessing emotionally charged memories of your experiences.
Planning for Reprocessing
Create a target sequence plan that represents your negative belief and the events that led to it, and then identify which specific event you want to start reprocessing.
We’ll also review your adaptive belief and experiences, as they’ll be integrated through reprocessing.
Desensitization and Reprocessing
Through a series of questions, we’ll activate the memory of the event that you chose to focus on.
Once activated, your therapist will guide you through desensitization and reprocessing using bilateral stimulation.
You’ll be encouraged to “free associate” whatever comes up to allow your brain to work through the encoded memories.
Installation
After a period of desensitization, we’ll grow the association between your adaptive belief and the desensitized and reprocessed negative event.
We’ll notice and strengthen any positive shifts in your reprocessing.
Closure and Grounding
If needed, we’ll focus on containing and grounding any lingering thoughts, feelings, sensations related to the negative event that you reprocessed.
Reevaluation
At the beginning of your next session, we’ll assess if additional reprocessing of the event from last session could be helpful.
Once a negative event is fully reprocessed and adaptively shifted, we’ll focus on how to grow this shift in your daily life.
We’ll also explore if you’d like to reprocess other events, or if you feel ready to transition out of EMDR and into other forms of therapy.
FAQ’s
What can EMDR help me work through?
EMDR can be used for many presenting concerns, including: the aftermath of traumatic events, difficult life adjustments, anxiety, depression, self-esteem, chronic health conditions, grief, and addiction.
Am I reliving my emotionally charged experiences while reprocessing?
No, EMDR is meant to activate memories and view them from a distance without actively reliving them.
Do I have to tell my therapist all the details of everything that I’ve been through?
No, EMDR doesn’t require you to talk in detail about your experiences for them to be processed and shifted.
Can I continue working with my individual therapist while doing EMDR?
Yes; however, it’s recommended that your EMDR therapist and individual therapist collaborate about your treatment goals and determine which aspects should solely be focused on in EMDR to avoid working on the same goal with two different providers.
How long does EMDR last?
The amount of time spent in EMDR is unique to you and is dependent on what you’d like to work on and the layers of your treatment goals. EMDR can be a brief treatment depending on what you’d like to specifically target.
Next Steps
Please reach out to schedule a complimentary consultation with one of our EMDR therapists to learn more about how EMDR may be a good fit for you.
At the end of last month, I went on an ambitious canoe camping trip with my husband, kids, and five of our friends. I say ambitious because our kids are four and seven, and up until this trip, we had only been on one- or two-night car camping trips. Spending three nights out in the wilderness, carrying everything we needed into the woods and paddling ourselves from campsite to campsite, felt a little intimidating.
Long story short, the trip was incredible. I can look back now on all of those days of anticipatory anxiety and laugh a little, telling myself that next time I won’t be so worried…even though I know I will.
