What is EMDR?
Within my work I use Attachment Informed EMDR, but what does EMDR stand for? To answer this question, this information is provided by the EMDR UK association:
EMDR is an acronym for Eye Movement Densensitisation Reprocessing.
Basically trauma can get stored in the brain in such a way that sometimes the mind can't process it, and the trauma can keep getting triggered in here-and-now situations.
When a person is involved in a traumatic event, they may feel overwhelmed, and their brain may be unable to fully process what is going on. The memory of the event seems to become “stuck” so that it remains very intense and vivid, meaning that the person re-experiences the full force of the distress - what they saw, heard, smelt, felt, etc - whenever the memory comes to mind, or when a 'trigger' occurs seemingly out of context.
EMDR aims to help the brain “unstick” and reprocess the memory properly so that it is no longer so intense. It also helps to desensitise the person to the emotional impact of the memory, so that they can think about the event without experiencing such strong feelings.
It does this by asking the person to recall the traumatic event while they also move their eyes from side-to-side, hear a sound in each ear alternately, or feel a tap on each hand alternately. These side-to-side sensations seem to effectively stimulate the “stuck” processing system in the brain so that it can reprocess the information more like an ordinary memory, reducing its intensity.
The effect may be similar to what occurs naturally during REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep, when your eyes move rapidly from side to side as the brain processes the events of the day.
EMDR is a complex therapeutic process that should always be delivered by properly trained therapists.
EMDR is best known for its effectiveness in treating post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). It is widely used by the NHS, charitable organisations and private sector, and the Ministry of Defence use EMDR to help service personnel with PTSD.
EMDR can also be used to help treat a variety of mental health problems like depression or anxiety, especially where a difficult life event has been involved. EMDR can be useful for people who have witnessed or experienced an event like a car accident, a violent crime, sexual or emotional abuse, bullying, a social humiliation or the sudden loss of a loved one, and are struggling to recover.