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What to Know Before Starting EMDR Therapy
Article Written by Denver therapist, Lauren Battista
EMDR therapy is getting a lot of buzz for helping people with PTSD or those dealing with past traumas that affect their lives today.
This buzz is well-deserved, as EMDR therapy has many benefits.
In addition to curiosities about EMDR therapy, there are also a lot of misunderstandings. Read on to learn more about what to know before jumping into EMDR therapy.
Brief overview: What is EMDR therapy?
EMDR (eye movement desensitization reprocessing) therapy is an evidence- based form of therapy trained clinicians use with clients to decrease emotional distress related to specific adverse or traumatic memories and experiences in a person’s life.
Read More: “Understanding EMDR Therapy and Ways It Can Support You on Your Healing Journey”
What are adverse experiences? Anything that leads to unwanted reactions, memories, or distress that causes issues in someone’s life.
It can be an embarrassing event that keeps someone from ever wanting to do anything associated with something similar in the future.
It can be an unhealthy relationship with someone – a parent, sibling, significant other, co-worker, etc that leads to anxiety, depression, or other stress responses.
In therapist terms, EMDR therapy utilizes a 3-part approach to healing that emphasizes clearing of past trauma(s), eliminating present triggers, and setting clients up for a positive future.
EMDR therapy is intended to leave clients with more adaptive ways of feeling, understanding, and reacting that will lead to healthy and useful behaviors and interactions in their relationship and with life moving forward.
How does EMDR therapy work?
There are 8 stages of EMDR therapy, known as Preparation, History-taking, Assessment, Desensitization, Installation, Body Scan, Closure and Re-evaluation.
Your therapist will provide you with a general understanding of the process and grounding strategies before getting started.
The first two stages may take several sessions to several months or even years to get through. Everyone is on their unique path to moving through past experiences and it’s important to move at a pace that feels good to the client and their nervous system.
The hallmark stages of EMDR therapy that people are often referencing when they say EMDR, are the Desensitization, Installation and Body Scan stages.
Read More: “How To Develop Healthy Habits That Support Trauma Healing”
During these stages, the therapist guides the client using eye movements and other forms of what’s called bi-lateral stimulation, such as tapping, buzzers or alternating sounds, to stimulate and accelerate the brain’s natural healing process.
These are all non-invasive and physically safe tactics that help the client get in touch with conscious and unconscious memories that have been stored by the body. See a video demonstration of bi-lateral stimulation on our Denver Metro Counseling Instagram page here.
Once the mode of bi-lateral stimulation has been chosen, the client will move into the Assessment phase and be asked to identify the specific event they would like to work on. They will then identify negative images, beliefs, emotions and body sensations that arise along with a positive belief that would indicate resolve of the targeted issue.
The client will then be guided to focus on the upsetting event while engaging in the chosen form of bilateral stimulation and will then be asked to notice and report what comes to mind in between each set.
These sets of bi-lateral stimulation are repeated until the original event or memory becomes less disturbing.
It is important to remember that the client has complete control and can signal to the therapist to stop at any time if needed.
The History and Development of EMDR Therapy
EMDR was developed by Dr. Francine Shapiro in 1987 to alleviate distress associated with traumatic memories, such as PTSD.
As Dr. Shapiro was walking in the park one day she noticed that engaging in eye movements seemed to decrease negative emotions associated with her own painful memories.
Dr. Shapiro then began conducting research and case studies with positive results, and continued to develop this treatment approach, incorporating feedback along the way.
Over the years EMDR therapy has gained global acknowledgement and acceptance as an effective form of trauma therapy.
Click here to read more about the history of EMDR therapy.
The Benefits of EMDR Therapy
EMDR has been scientifically proven to work to decrease symptoms of PTSD and complex PTSD and have lasting results.
According to the EMDR International Association, “EMDR therapy is recognized as evidenced-based treatment for PTSD and other trauma and stressor disorders in treatment guidelines published by the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies, the World Health Organization, and a growing number of national and international organizations.
Treatment guidelines are based on reviews that evaluate the research of established evidence-based mental health treatments.” * https://www.emdria.org/about-emdr-therapy/recent-research-about-emdr/
Clients report that emotional distress related to painful memories has been either eliminated or drastically decreased after EMDR processing. Additionally, clients gain important cognitive insights and a greater sense of contentment with their current circumstances that was missing before.
While you will still be instructed to revisit the target memory multiple times throughout the session, this doesn’t always necessarily mean you will be talking about it extensively, which makes this form of treatment appealing to clients as they are looking at different options for therapy.
Some more of the many benefits of EMDR therapy include:
– more understanding of your self and the impact situations have had on your life
Who can benefit from EMDR therapy?
People of all ages can benefit from EMDR therapy, even children.
Read More: “5 Ways To Help Yourself When Your Body Feels Your Trauma”
EMDR therapy is an incredibly effective intervention for PTSD, C-PTSD, grief, anxiety disorders, depression, addiction, eating disorders, panic disorders, phobias, chronic pain and more.
EMDR also can help people to change deep-rooted beliefs about self that inform the way they interact with the world, such as “I am not good enough” or “I don’t deserve to be happy”.
What to expect during an EMDR therapy session
EMDR therapy is different from other more traditional forms of “talk therapy”. What is similar is the most important part of EMDR therapy, and that’s having a trusting, healthy relationship with the therapist.
Being comfortable with the therapist is extremely important to the efficacy of EMDR therapy.
Before starting EMDR therapy, you and your therapist will decide together whether EMDR therapy is a good fit.
Once it is determined to be a good fit, sessions will look different depending on which phase of EMDR therapy you are in.
During the History Taking and Preparation phases you will be talking about your experiences, sharing historical information about yourself, your relationships, your experiences and what you are wanting to process with EMDR therapy as guided by your EMDR therapist.
During these first phases, sessions will focus on identifying what the client wants to work on and improving distress tolerance skills.
Clients are taught helpful ways of calming their body and containing disturbing material using mindfulness practices and other self-calming practices.
This very important part of the Preparation phase helps build tolerance and readiness for the next phases of treatment.
During the Assessment, Reprocessing, Installation, and Body Scan phases, there will be less back and forth conversation and more guidance from the therapist to help the client notice what is coming up for them as they hold their focus on certain images and aspects of the memory or event being targeted.
This is the part where you will use bi-lateral stimulation.
EMDR sessions typically last between 50 and 90 minutes, depending on the clinician and client’s preference, and include time allotted for calming and containing any distress at the end of each session.
Finding a qualified EMDR therapist
EMDR therapy should always be delivered by a properly trained clinician.
You can find qualified EMDR therapists in your area by visiting the find an EMDR therapist directory on the EMDR International Association’s website.
Our clinical team of Denver therapists are trained in EMDR therapy and provide in-person therapy in Denver and virtual sessions to Colorado residents.
Potential Side Effects and Considerations of EMDR Therapy
While EMDR therapy is safe when done by a trained EMDR therapist who follows best-practice guidelines for the specific client they are working for, it can be distressing for clients.
Distress may surface as it is intended to allow you to re-visit an experience that holds much pain and discomfort.
Therefore, the client needs to be prepared to handle uncomfortable emotions or sensations that may arise both inside and outside of the therapy session.
This is why the therapist and client do a lot of preparation together to ensure clients can self-soothe and have access to coping skills that work for them to decrease activation.
Read More: “How A Consistent Schedule Can Help Trauma”
In the beginning phases of EMDR, you will work with your therapist to learn ways to regulate your nervous system in session along with techniques to elicit feelings of calm and safety in your body that you will be asked to practice in between sessions.
After an EMDR session, people may experience temporary increases in emotional distress, irritability, and may feel more tired than usual.
It is not uncommon to struggle with disturbances in sleep or energy levels after session, however some clients report little to no negative symptoms.
It can be helpful to ensure that you plan your sessions intentionally on days or times where you have less required of you at work or at home in case you feel dysregulated in any way.
It is better to be over-prepared than to be caught off guard.
Your therapist might recommend you proactively communicate with your support systems about how they can best help you as you are going through EMDR therapy, and what specific things you may need from them if you are feeling “off” in anyway.
Identifying who these supports are as well as giving them a brief overview of what to expect helps to ensure everything goes smoothly.
FAQ’s about EMDR therapy
How many sessions will I need?
EMDR is not a “one size fits all” approach and looks different from client to client based on their unique circumstances and needs.
Some clients need fewer sessions than others depending on the severity of the events/traumas being worked on.
Can kids do EMDR therapy too?
Yes! With appropriate modifications to the standard EMDR protocols, EMDR has been shown to be incredibly effective for children as well as adults.
Do you have to be in person to do EMDR?
No, EMDR can be done virtually as well. There are different apps and ways of recreating the same bilateral stimulation that you would use in person available online that work just as well.
Who should NOT do EMDR therapy?
Special precautions may need to be taken in offering this form of therapy to people who are experiencing psychosis, have severe neurological and/or dissociative disorders or are suicidal. EMDR may also impair testimony in legal cases.
In the initial screening phases of EMDR therapy, these factors are taken into consideration by the clinician.
Is EMDR Therapy Right For You?
It could be! If you are still wondering if EMDR therapy is the right fit for you, you can schedule a free consultation with one of our trained clinicians here at Denver Metro Counseling.
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Denver Therapist, Lauren Battista
Denver Metro Counseling is a group of Denver therapists who provide teen therapy in Denver, young adult therapy, adult therapy, family therapy and other counseling and therapy in Denver and throughout Colorado.
We specialize in relationships, codependency, communication and boundaries and provide supportive therapy for people struggling with life transitions, trauma, anxiety, depression, substance abuse, ADHD, negative body image, and more.
Our clinicians are trained and comfortable working with people who struggle with thoughts of suicide and work collaboratively with our clients and their loved ones to maintain safety through a trauma-informed approach.
Follow Denver Metro Counseling on Facebook: Denver Metro Counseling and Instagram: @denvermetrocounseling to learn more.
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