EMDR and Trauma
EMDR
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is a powerful evidence-based therapy practice to treat trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). EMDR is particularly effective for those whose traumatic memories still impact their present lives.
EMDR therapy is endorsed by the American Psychiatric Association and the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies. It is currently used by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, the Department of Defense, the Israeli National Council for Mental Health and the United Kingdom Department of Health, among others, for the treatment of trauma-related symptoms.
How does EMDR Therapy work?
Traumatic memories are stored in the brain differently than other kinds of memories. During a traumatic event, the fight-or-flight response kicks in to cope with the immediate situation. But the brain often cannot make sense of the event. The information processing system of the brain gets disrupted. As a result, the memory of the event gets stored in a fragmented and unfinished fashion that keeps reemerging in the present. The memory of the traumatic event seems frozen. The painful thoughts, feelings, sensations and images associated with the traumatic event seem to be locked in the nervous system.
EMDR therapy shifts how trauma is stored in the brain and reduces the disturbing emotions, sensations, symptoms, and beliefs associated with those experiences. Through the use of eye movements, EMDR therapy fundamentally changes the way the memory is stored.
The EMDR process can reduce sensitivity that you have around the traumatic memory, painful thoughts or feelings. The emotional charge associated with the traumatic memory is eliminated or reduced. What is an EMDR session like?
I begin with understanding your personal history and your current issues and symptoms. From there, we discuss and agree on any key areas that you want to work on. I guide you through the rapid eye movement process using an EMDR light bar. It is during this time that stuck memory is processed and integrated.
Peter Levine, Walking the Tiger, Healing Trauma, asserted that severe childhood emotional, physical, or sexual abuse, betrayal, abandonment in childhood, rape, and catastrophic injuries and illness may also cause trauma.
Robert Scaer (2005) proposed a "broader spectrum of trauma that ranges from catastrophic events such as war and other extreme forms of violence to 'little traumas' such as childhood neglect, motor vehicle accidents, and exposure to violence via the media and popular entertainment.”
Waelde, Pennington, Mahan, Mahan, Kabour, & Marquette (2010) added racism to the list.
Dan Siegel, Mindsight, suggests that trauma results in "impaired [neural] integration," which can greatly affect the overall neurological functioning of the brain and nervous system.