Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing
When we go through an event that we term as 'traumatic', we are referring to an event that has been overwhelming and outside our ability to cope. This can include events such as car accidents, a sexual assault, a physical attack.
Our ability to 'naturally' process the event becomes disrupted. We lose sleep , we are in an anxious state and we may therefore attempt to avoid thinking about the incident(s) as a way of coping. As a survival strategy this makes sense, why would we want to look at something that is painful?
The difficulty with using avoidance as a strategy is that the event remains unprocessed. This means that the brain has not been able to conclude that it is over and not happening now. And as we are sensory beings, our senses are active, we see, hear, smell, touch and taste. Anything that reminds us of the past event ( trigger) may lead us to experience the flashbacks or an anxiety response that is out of the blue in the present moment.
We need to process the event that occurred so that the brain recognises it is no longer a threat now.
What happens in an EMDR session?
A thorough assessment will take place allowing for specific information related to the distressing event to be identified and targeted.
Eye movements similar to those during REM sleep will be created, where the therapist may ask you to follow her fingers, tap or watch a light on a light bar that moves from side to side. This will last for a while and you will be asked to stop and report back what you experienced, the experience could include changes in thoughts, feelings, images, and physical sensations.
The process will bring up uncomfortable feelings, however this is part of the process which will allow you to process the event and make sense of it.
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