EMDR
What is EMDR Therapy?
EMDR stands for Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing. It is a type of trauma therapy to help you mentally and emotionally recover from distressing past life experiences. EMDR has been highly researched, evidence-based, and shown to reduce intense symptoms in a shorter time than traditional talk therapy.
What does EMDR therapy help with?
EMDR therapy was established and known for single incident PTSD. Research continues to show EMDR to also be effective in treating:
Anxiety
Complicated Grief
Disturbing Memories
How does EMDR therapy work?
EMDR uses a three-pronged protocol aimed to focus on the past event, the present triggers, and future scenarios to help clients feel more prepared and empowered moving forward. EMDR uses a technique called bilaterial stimulation (BLS) to activate both sides of the brain to reprocess the distressing memory. Therapists typically use eye movements, tapping of shoulders, or sounds to guide bilateral stimulation.
This might look like:
Eye-movements: Following your therapist’s finger or light bar or a moving dot on your screen if joining a session virtually.
Tapping: Gently alternating tapping from left and right on your shoulders or knees
Sounds: Listening to tones that alternate between your left and right ear using headphones
EMDR does not require re-telling every detail of the past events. It uses an 8-phase standardized protocol to guide the nervous system into recovery.
Phase 1: Assessment and History Taking
Your therapist will ask you questions about your mental health and experiences up to this point. Think of this session as looking at your story from an aerial view; we’re getting a sense of the bigger picture rather than focusing on every detail. Your therapist will also ask about your strengths, coping skills, and the people or resources that support you. Together, you’ll begin identifying the overall themes of what you want to focus on in therapy.
Phase 2: Preparation
This is when your therapist will guide you through a variety of coping skills and grounding resources to prepare for the trauma processing. Through the preparation phase, you will begin to learn how to recognize when your body feels overwhelmed, panicky, shut down, or calm and neutral. This phase is incredibly important in the recovery process. Think of this phase like being a new driver. Before getting in the car you want to know how to use the gas and brakes. Similarly, in EMDR preparation, before processing difficult memories, your therapist wants to make sure you know how to slow down, when to pause, and that you can take a break anytime reprocessing begins to feel overwhelming.
Phase 3: Assessment
Together with your EMDR therapist you will identify memory you would like to reprocess in therapy. You’ll be guided to notice an image, emotion, and body sensations that come with the identified memory. You’ll also be asked about the negative belief about yourself that carry in the present around this memory and a positive belief to replace it with.
Phase 4: Desensitization
During Phase 4, bilateral stimulation is used while focusing on the identified memory. Your therapist will guide you through a series of sets, allowing your brain to begin reprocessing the memory. Throughout the process, your therapist may ask, “What are you noticing?” You’ll simply share whatever you notice in the moment, whether that’s a thought, image, emotion, or body sensation. There is no right or wrong answer, and you don’t have to force anything to happen. As the reprocessing continues, the intensity of the emotions, sensations, or distress connected to the memory often begins to decrease.
Phase 5: Installation
Once reprocessing has been completed and your level of distress surrounding the memory decreases to neutral or none, your therapist will you to install the positive belief you identified earlier in phase 3.
Phase 6: Body Scan
Your therapist will ask you to notice what you experience in your body as you hold the memory and the positive belief together in your mind. If there is any lingering distress or discomfort, there may be additional reprocessing necessary. When the body scan is clear you may notice feeling more settled or grounded.
Phase 7: Closure
At the end of each session, your therapist will help you return back to the present moment. You may end session using one or more of the grounding tools you learned during the preparation phase.
Phase 8: Reevaluation
At your next session, your therapist will assess how you have been since the previous session. If you noticed any distress, flashbacks, or difficulty coping, your therapist will want to be aware of this. If the positive results have held, from there, you will continue reprocessing where you previously left off or move on to a different target in your treatment plan. Your therapist will also help you work through any future scenarios that may be challenging so you can feel more prepared to cope with them.
Brittany Moffitt, LCSW-C, PMH-C
8894 Stanford Blvd, Suite 103
Columbia, MD 21045
Office hours: 9am-5pm Monday-Friday
I’d be happy to set up a consultation time with you to talk about whether EMDR therapy may be a good fit for you. You do not have to consider what you went through as traumatic in order to seek support. As Dr. Gabor Maté brilliantly said, “Trauma is not what happens to you, but what happens inside you as a result of what happened to you.” If you don’t feel like yourself right now, that’s reason enough to reach out.
Supporting mothers through childbirth trauma recovery with compassion, evidence-based care, and the belief that every woman deserves to feel safe and whole again.
Serving Columbia, Maryland and Washington, D.C.
Get in Touch
202-643-4934
[email protected]
8894 Stanford Blvd, Suite 103
Columbia, MD 21045