What is EMDR?
What is EMDR?
EMDR stands for Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing. It was developed by Francine Shapiro, Ph.D. in the 1990’s. EMDR is one of the most useful and versatile methods available to treat a wide variety of emotional and psychological issues… especially trauma.
To make this subject a bit easier to understand, I’ll begin by breaking its’ title down in to short pieces. Let’s begin with Eye Movement.
It has been found that there is a definite connection between the way our eyes move and the part of the brain that’s being accessed. For example, if you are talking to someone and ask them to imagine what their house would look like if it was a different color, their eyes will go up and to your left. If you ask them to think of what color their house really is, their eyes will go up and to your right. (For left-handed people this may be just the opposite). These eye movements are sub-conscious and automatic. Unless an individual is trained in EMDR or NLP, they’re not even aware that they’re doing it.
sounds and feelings
This phenomenon also applies to sounds and feelings. If you ask someone think of what their favorite song sounds like, their eyes will go to your right… accessing the auditory part of the brain. If you ask them to imagine what their favorite song would sound like if played by a brass band, their eyes will go to your left. (Unless it actually was played by a brass band).
And finally, if you ask someone how they feel about some experience they had, their eyes will go down and to your left. If they go down and to your right, they’re talking to themselves!
The information we get by piecing all of this together tells us where a persons’ memory is stored in the brain and how their brain processed it. This opens up a viable way to access what we need to make changes to that memory – and the emotions connected with it. It can also bring to mind memories that have been forgotten or repressed.
desensitization
Desensitization is a common method used by many therapists to help a person get over the fear of something, or the memory of a bad experience. It involves mentally subjecting the client to the troublesome experience or memory by exposing them to it in a safe, controlled fashion. Little by little, the client gets “desensitized” to the experience or memory, and it takes the “sting” out of it. They still remember it, but it has no emotional affect on them.
And finally, Reprocessing is just like it sounds. By having the client focus their eyes on a moving object while thinking about the traumatic experience, it activates other parts of the brain. So instead of the memory being contained in just one small portion of the brain, it gets shared with other parts of the brain – thus lightening the emotional load associated with that memory.
the process…
By having the client follow a moving finger or object with their eyes as they think about their negative experience, they can access the memory – as well as the sights, sounds and feelings that go with it. The deliberate eye movements caused by following the moving finger or object, allows the experience and emotions to get shared “bi-laterally”, meaning with both sides of the brain. In essence, it helps the brain share the workload by spreading it out… allowing their higher brain functions to participate.
These higher functioning parts of the brain can generate new insights and perspectives about the experience, which will alter the memory and the emotions connected to it. The old information literally gets reprocessed. The memory is still there – but it no longer has any pain or discomfort attached to it.
This entire process is done automatically by your brain. The only effort required by you is to follow the finger or object with your eyes while you think about your bad experience. Your brain does the rest. It’s really quite amazing.
EMDR has proven to be highly effective in treating Traumatic Experiences, PTSD, Anxiety, Painful Memories, Chronic Pain, Low Self-Esteem, Addictions and many other issues.
Jeffrey J. Lewis, B.A., CHt. – Professional Hypnotist & NLP Practitioner
East Brady, PA