Healing from Trauma with EMDR
FOR THOSE OF US WHO HAVE EXPERIENCED TRAUMA IN OUR LIVES, IT CAN BE COMFORTING TO IMAGINE WHAT LIFE WOULD BE LIKE WITHOUT the nagging memories of trauma.
Sometimes, it feels like we get stuck in a loop of painful flashbacks, which can make it so difficult to move forward. Trauma therapy and EMDR can be a powerful way to help us reprocess these painful memories and detach from them a bit, creating space or distance between the present moment and our uncomfortable past.
If you’ve experienced trauma and think that EMDR or therapy for trauma could be a good fit for you on your healing journey, read on to learn more about the background of the treatment as well as how to find an EMDR practitioner near you.
What is EMDR?
EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) is a trauma treatment that involves reprocessing trauma or memories with bilateral stimulation. It’s a mind/body approach that helps your brain reintegrate memories using cues that will stimulate right-to-left attention. These could include:
Visual cues – like your therapist moving her finger back and forth in front of you
Audio cues – such as a beep or other recorded sound
Tactile cues – including handheld pulsars that gently vibrate right to left, or bilateral tapping with your hands on your shoulders or arms.
EMDR was discovered by Dr. Francine Shapiro, PhD in the 1980s. Dr. Shapiro, a licensed psychologist, was on a walk in a park and was thinking about some distressing thoughts. As she walked, she noticed that the painful thoughts lessened as she looked left to right at the nature around her. This inspired her to experiment with intentional eye movements and their effects on our processing of emotions and memories. Ultimately, this led to her development of EMDR and the founding of the EMDR Institute.
The science behind why EMDR works is similar to the concept of REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep, the deepest level of sleep during which our bodies naturally consolidate memories and process the detritus of the day. Similarly, EMDR helps to facilitate emotional regulation and reprocessing.
EMDR is mostly used to treat trauma-related diagnoses, but has also proven helpful in treating anxiety, depression, grief and loss, and phobias. By revisiting traumatic memories or events stuck in our psyches in a safe and controlled environment, and with the support of a trained psychologist, we’re able to reprocess the memories and reintegrate them into our lives in a more manageable way.
Searching for EMDR Near Me or Online
Overcoming trauma is possible. If you’re interested in learning more about EMDR and discovering whether it would be an effective tool in your own treatment path for healing from trauma, please reach out for more information. Sarah Van Nostrand of Moonrise Therapy is a trauma therapist who has completed a comprehensive training program and is trained in EMDR via the EMDR International Association (EMDRIA). She provides EMDR and trauma therapy in Evanston, Illinois and is passionate about using this specialized tool to help her patients reprocess their painful memories and move to a more spacious place where healing can happen.
