What Is EMDR?
Learn more about EMDR therapy, the advantages of this therapy type and who finds this method most useful.
The Basics of EMDR
In short, because it’s very effective at treating stuck traumatic memories. While other types of therapy can help you by providing you with the coping tools, EMDR therapy stands out, by tackling the root cause of the problem. So, if the idea of dealing with the underlying issue instead of the symptoms sounds appealing, you should definitely explore if EMDR therapy can help you.
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy is a one-on-one, highly interactive technique that helps you process and clear away psychologically stressful events and experiences.
A Little More About EMDR
Everyone experiences trauma in their lives. A helpful way to think about trauma is as something that happened to you that should not have happened, like bullying or abuse, or something that should have happened but didn’t, like not receiving enough love and support from your parents. When people hear the word ‘trauma’, they typically think of 'Big T' trauma that includes things like physical abuse, rape, war, big natural disaster, etc. However, the vast majority of us experience 'Small T' trauma, like being teased in school, not being very good at sports, failing an exam, or having parents that were too busy. The problem with 'Small T' trauma is that it’s so common that people tend to think of it as a normal part of life that you just need to deal with. But if you experience lasting psychological effects that negatively affect your day-to-day, treating 'Small T' trauma with EMDR therapy will improve your quality of life. To use an analogy, even though sports injuries are common and normal, you would be better off seeing a physiotherapist for treatment rather than letting the injury heal on its own.
When talking about trauma and how EMDR treats it, we like to use an analogy of a Trauma Box. Think of it as a box that contains all your trauma (Big T and Small T).
During an EMDR session you will recall your traumatic experiences while your therapist will direct your gaze (that’s the Eye Movement, or EM, in EMDR) from one side to the other to divert your attention. Diversion of attention will make reliving the traumatic experience less vivid and triggering, thus desensitizing you to it (that’s the D in EMDR). Over the course of the treatment you’ll also be able to reprocess the traumatic experience (that’s the R) so as to remove it completely from the Trauma Box.
— Ashlea
That’s the biggest advantage of EMDR over other types of therapy.
Its power lies in the fact that it tackles the root cause of the problem.
Contrast that with other therapies that tend to just give you the tools for coping with the problem. To go back to our physical injury analogy, treating trauma with EMDR therapy is like going to physio and doing prescribed exercises to treat the original injury, as opposed to simply taking painkillers to numb the pain.
