Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing (EMDR)
Traumatic experiences can be devastating, both in the moment that they happen and in the aftermath. Sometimes, extreme trauma can be so distressing that the brain cannot process what has happened, which inhibits both normal mental processes and emotional functioning. As a result, some may become perpetually hypervigilant or anxious, even long after the experience occurred. Some people may even develop or intensify mental health disorders such as anxiety, depression, dissociative disorders and post traumatic stress disorder.
Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) is a therapeutic modality that strives to help people who have gone through trauma to heal from those experiences, and thus better manage any resulting mental health disorders. EMDR helps clients face and process trauma in a safe, secure way, helping them to identify damaging thought processes. Through this identification, clients can learn to react to painful memories and emotions in safe, healthy ways.
Wide Application
Although EMDR was originally developed to treat trauma, it has since been used to help treat other mental health disorders, including anxiety disorders and substance abuse. EMDR’s focus on disrupting maladaptive thought patterns and behaviors has been found to be effective in treating all of these mental health disorders, helping clients to address difficult emotions, develop healthy habits, leading to an increased sense of stability and wholeness.
Therapy in Practice
Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing begins with clients remembering a traumatic experience. As this happens, trained clinicians will guide clients through the memory while simultaneously directing their eye movements, which stimulate the brain. Intermittently, the clinician will ask the client to talk about how they are currently feeling, both physically and emotionally. Over the course of the therapy, the clinician will help the client gradually focus on more productive memories. This mixture of dialogue, memories and eye movements helps clients to gradually desensitize themselves to overwhelmingly painful feelings brought on by trauma, safely process their experiences, recognize triggers, and manage both physical and emotional symptoms in a way that promotes lasting healing.
Our mental health treatment program integrates EMDR into clients’ individualized treatment plans on a case-by-case basis, using the therapy if and when it will be most effective. Working in conjunction with other therapeutic modalities, EMDR can enhance quality treatment, helping clients gain the necessary skills to build a secure, rich, and healthy life.
For more information about eye movement desensitization reprocessing, or about other treatments offered at Solara Mental Health, please contact us.
