What is EMDR

What is EMDR?

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is a treatment aimed at processing a shocking, painful, or frightening event. This could include instances such as sexual abuse, a car accident, or a war event, as well as a history of bullying at school or the loss of a partner. When you are stuck in processing a particular event, there may be various feelings, thoughts, flashbacks, or nightmares you struggle with. EMDR assists in processing by reducing the emotional charge of the event.

How does it work?

During EMDR, your therapist will ask you to vividly recall an event, including all associated images, thoughts, and feelings. According to the latest scientific insights, this retrieves the memory from your long-term memory and places it into your working memory. Then, your therapist will increase the load on your working memory by having you perform tasks simultaneously, such as moving your eyes back and forth. This is done, for example, by following the therapist’s fingers, or by following a ball or light on a screen. To further increase the difficulty, your therapist may suggest additional tasks. These could include pointing out or naming objects or text on a screen, solving math problems, repeating certain movements, etc.

Because your working memory has limited capacity, a kind of competition unfolds between the different tasks. In other words, recalling the memory is becoming more difficult because of the additional tasks. If you continue to do this for a period of time, the emotional charge of the memory will decrease. Depending on the events, the number of required sessions may vary.

What can you expect?

During EMDR, it will feel like you are reliving the event. This naturally occurs in a safe setting with your therapist but can still evoke intense emotions. As a result, you may feel tired, overwhelmed, or drained after a session. It’s also not uncommon to experience some restless nights. You may also feel reluctant to fully recall the memories or even attempt to avoid the sessions. These are all normal reactions and can be openly discussed with your therapist!

Sources:

https://www.watisemdr.nl/