Understanding EMDR Therapy and Your Brain
Experiencing stressful and potentially traumatic events in life is inevitable. Unfortunately, many people are never provided the proper help to deal with the trauma, and even fewer have the tools necessary to heal after the trauma.
The struggle is real and it’s dangerous for our mental health, as well as our physical health. What happens in the mind affects the body.
How can we find relief from traumatic stress and reclaim your life?
A safe and effective psychotherapy called EMDR, also known as Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing.
Trauma and EMDR Therapy
EMDR is an effective trauma therapy that induces healing of the brain by allowing the natural fight; flight, freeze response to be completed.
What is trauma?
Trauma gets "stuck" in the brain when our natural instincts for fear and stress become the norm after a traumatic event. The amygdala (the emergency alert part of the brain) becomes extremely sensitive and over-reactive to everyday life situations.
This overreaction of the amygdala causes the hippocampus (the part of our brain in charge of memory storage and safety protocols) and the prefrontal cortex (the part of our brain in charge of executive functioning) to shrink.
Both the hippocampus and the prefrontal cortex help us regulate our emotions, but when the shrinking hippocampus and prefrontal cortex (PFC) rely on the overactive amygdala to manage danger and our emotional activity around potential danger - this creates even more sensitivity in the amygdala and continued override of the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex.
How does EMDR therapy help?
EMDR allows the appropriate parts of the brain to function as they should by "completing the circuit" of trauma in the brain. The memory of the traumatic experience - including:
associated images
emotions
physical sensations
negative thoughts about yourself from the trauma
Your amygdala doesn't have to constantly be on alert, and the hippocampus and PFC do the job of processing the memory and restoring balance to these important parts of the brain.
EMDR brings you through a treatment consisting of eight phases in order to combat traumatic experiences:
History taking
Client preparation
Assessment
Desensitization
Installation
Body scan
Closure
Reevaluation of treatment effect
Why is EMDR an Effective Therapy for Trauma
It teaches your brain how to handle your trauma instead of avoiding it. If you think about your kitchen cabinets. Everyone in the house has jammed the Tupperware into the cabinet over the oven, and slammed the cabinet door shut before it all topples out. And you’re standing there, unwilling to open the cabinet for fear the containers will spill out and cause an enormous, chaotic mess you just aren’t willing to deal with.
EMDR therapy is the tool you can use to get rid of the millions of tops that have no bottoms, and organize what’s remaining in a way that makes the most sense to you. Now you no longer need to cringe each time you go to open the kitchen cabinet.
Finding the Right EMDR Therapist
Beyond having the proper credentials, you need to feel confident that you and the therapist are a good fit. Speak to a few different EMDR therapists. Ask plenty of questions, like what is EMDR; how long does EMDR take; are you EMDR certified?
Always go with your gut. If you feel good about your interactions with a therapist, it’s usually a good indication that you’ve found the best therapist for you. Remember no one therapist is perfect, but there is a perfect therapist for you!