Trauma can feel like a dark shadow that lingers, making an appearance at the most inopportune moments in life. Contrary to popular belief, trauma isn't limited to those who have experienced wars or survived severe accidents. It can emerge from moments that others may consider insignificant, but were deeply distressing to you personally. Some trauma involves real or perceived threats to life or safety, yet it can also be the result of subtle, ongoing experiences. Chronic misattunements by parents, emotional abuse, bullying, and situations that left you feeling overwhelmed, ashamed, not good enough, or helpless can all contribute to lasting distress.
When trauma remains unprocessed, it can cause ongoing symptoms that impact daily life and mental, emotional, social, and physical well-being. There are many ways that trauma can show up in a person’s life. Some ways may include nightmares, flashbacks, difficulty concentrating, panic attacks, phobias, anxiety, grief, intrusive thoughts, disorientation, withdrawal, addictive behaviors, depressed or irritable mood, unexplained physical conditions, a sense of guilt or shame, sleep disturbances, and even feelings of hopelessness (The Maiberger Institute, 2024). Trauma is not a one-size fits all situation - some people have a few ways that it impacts their life, while others experience a long list of symptoms. For anyone who resonates with these experiences, Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy may be a path toward healing.
What is EMDR?
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing, or EMDR, was initially created by Dr. Francine Shapiro in 1987 and is written about in her more recent edition of her book in 2018. EMDR is an eight-phase model of therapy that is designed to help individuals process traumatic events and life-disturbing experiences. It’s an evidence-based approach to trauma therapy that includes eight phases. Rather than talking at length about the trauma like you might do in traditional therapy, EMDR focuses on helping you access and process non-integrated memories that continue to cause distress.
Shapiro believes that EMDR therapy unlocks the brain’s natural ability to process, store, and integrate information, which can be disrupted by traumatic experiences. Traumatic memories often carry intense emotions, sensations, and images that feel as if they're happening in the present. Through EMDR, the brain can finally reprocess these experiences, often lessening their emotional impact, helping you find some peace and closure.
What Can EMDR Treat?
EMDR therapy has been shown to effectively address a wide range of issues, including:
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Experiences such as sexual or physical assault, car accidents, natural disasters, or war trauma.
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Witnessing traumatic events happen to others
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Anxiety and panic attacks
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Depression
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Physical, sexual, and emotional abuse
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Flashbacks and nightmares
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Grief and loss
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Phobias
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Chronic pain
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Addictive behaviors
It’s important to recognize that EMDR isn't limited to PTSD or trauma in the traditional sense. It can help with distressing experiences that may have “stuck” in ways we don’t fully understand, affecting our thoughts, behaviors, and emotional health. (Shapiro, 2018)
What Happens During EMDR Therapy?
In an EMDR session (Shapiro, 2018), clients typically engage in eye movements or other forms of bilateral (left-right) rhythmic stimulation, including auditory stimulation (e.g., tones) and tactile stimulation (e.g., vibrating hand buzzers or tapping on your chest, arms or legs) This bilateral stimulation, combined with recalling a traumatic memory, helps the brain reprocess the memory.
Here’s how a typical EMDR session might unfold:
1. Recall a Traumatic Memory: The therapist guides you to bring up a specific memory, often one associated with distressing thoughts, feelings, beliefs about yourself and sensations in the body.
2. Bilateral Stimulation: During the memory recall, you engage in eye movements, tapping, or listening to alternating tones, following the therapist’s guidance.
3. Processing and Integrating: Through this process, the brain can reprocess and make sense of the memory, reducing its emotional charge.
EMDR can bring significant relief, allowing you to revisit the memory without the same intensity of distress. This therapy is not about erasing the past, but rather transforming the memory’s impact on daily life.
Common Myths and Limitations
Here are a few important clarifications about what EMDR can and cannot do (The Maiberger Institute, 2024):
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EMDR will not erase memories. Instead, it reduces the intense emotional response associated with them, helping them feel less intrusive in the present.
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It won’t change the facts. What happened remains in the past. EMDR helps us reshape how we relate to that past.
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It does not repair physical brain damage. EMDR can change how we emotionally process memories but cannot reverse physical injuries or damage.
How Does EMDR Work Within Individual Therapy?
EMDR can be integrated into ongoing therapy in a few ways. You may choose to work with a separate EMDR provider and return to your primary therapist once the trauma work is complete. You may also continue therapy with your primary therapist while doing EMDR with a new provider, sometimes adjusting the frequency of the sessions with your primary therapist while doing EMDR. Alternatively, if your therapist is trained in EMDR, you can work directly with them.
EMDR will feel different from traditional talk therapy. Sessions are structured, and it’s essential to focus on the EMDR process rather than switching between trauma work and general discussions. The therapy often requires about 10-12 sessions for single traumatic events, but if there are multiple “targets” or a more complex web of traumatic events from earlier in life, it will likely take longer. It’s important to set realistic expectations and also know that once done, some booster sessions might be helpful down the road.
EMDR is a unique and powerful approach to trauma treatment. Whether you've experienced significant traumatic events or find yourself stuck in recurring memories of difficult experiences, EMDR could be an effective way to process and integrate these memories. Trauma doesn’t have to define your present life, and EMDR therapy offers a path forward—one where painful memories no longer control your thoughts, feelings, beliefs about yourself or future. At Center for Shared Insight in Denver, Colorado, we’re trained in EMDR therapy. Contact us to learn more.
References:
Integrated Body Mind Therapy, Inc., d.b.a. The Maiberger Institute. (2024). Remote EMDR Therapy Essentials: A Somatic Approach to Healing Trauma.
Shapiro, F. (2018). Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) Therapy: Basic Principles, Protocols, and Procedures (3RD ed.). The Guilford Press.
