Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy is quite a mouthful! It also sounds super complicated and scary. Sometimes it sounds really magical…and it kind of is! When terrible or traumatic things happen to us, the memories of these events get stored in our brains. The memory center of the brain and the emotion part of our brains are right next to each other. The memory and the emotion can sometimes ‘get stuck’ and not be processed well. It is our brain’s way of trying to keep us safe- we remember the terrible things that happened and how it made us feel so that we can avoid those things again. Think- if I ate a food that made me sick, my brain will want me to remember so I keep avoiding that food.
Sometimes, when we have a terrible thing happen, or many terrible things, our brain gets ‘stuck’. We might start to have symptoms even though the terrible thing could have been a long time ago. We might act out, have mean behaviors, anxiety symptoms, be depressed, moody, have nightmares, wet the bed, cry for no reason, avoid certain situations, and have negative beliefs and thoughts about ourselves and the world.
By using eye movements while thinking about the terrible event(s), researchers have found that the brain can heal itself! The memories of the terrible things that have happened (such as bullying, medical scares, or abuse) will still be there, but the emotions tied to it will not. Since the brain has healed, the symptoms that were happening in the present will also heal. We also see that people start having more positive beliefs about themselves and the world.
Like I said, it really sounds magical or too-good-to-be-true. But, it works! It also can strengthen positive emotions and feelings, too. I have had clients of mine that had not felt happy or calm in years finally be able to feel these emotions again. EMDR can help with: PTSD, anxiety, depression, self-esteem, substance use, bullying, medical scares, sexual, physical, and emotional abuse, fears and phobias, and a ton of other things.
Here are some links that can help explain it further:
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