How Does EMDR Help You Process Trauma?

According to the United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), about 6% of women, men, and children in the US will experience symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) at some point in their lives. You don’t have to be a veteran to have PTSD. 

Any shocking, dangerous experience that threatens your life or sense of safety can trigger PTSD, including:

• Combat
• Accidents
• Being in a flood or fire
• Being badly injured
• Rape and other sexual abuse
• Other physical assault or injury
• Witnessing a death or murder
• Witnessing an accident
• Witnessing a crime

Over time, most people recover from trauma within weeks. However, the traumatic incident is sometimes so severe and impactful on your brain and sense of safety that you can’t move past it. 

Memories of the trauma may haunt your dreams or even your daily life. If you feel unsafe or locked into the trauma of the event for more than one month after the initial incident, you may have PTSD. 

At The Soho Center for Mental Health Counseling, one of the therapies our expert counselors recommend for PTSD is another acronym: EMDR, which stands for eye movement desensitization and reprocessing. 

What is EMDR, and how can it help you to process your past trauma? We outline the steps below.

Why do you need EMDR?

When you experience a horrific, life-threatening, or dangerous event, your brain and body go into high alert, a condition sometimes referred to as “fight or flight.” Your body is either primed to face the threat or flee from it. Fight or flight aren’t the only two options, though. You may also experience:

• Immobility (i.e., freezing)
• Dissociation (i.e., going on “auto pilot)
• Fawning (i.e., trying to please or appease the attacker)
• Feeling sleepy or fainting

During this period of intense fear, your brain chemistry is altered and your body is flooded with hormones and chemicals, such as cortisol, that raise your stress levels. You might not be able to think properly, as the fear shuts down your prefrontal cortex — the area of the brain that makes logical decisions. 

You also may remember minor details of the event with intense clarity, such as a particular smell, while the overall picture is hazy and confused. 

EMDR uses physical movements as well as talk therapy to help you process those disturbing, fractured memories. The movements send signals to your brain that help it to experience the memories without unleashing stress hormones and maintaining your high-alert state.

Your eyes signal your brain

When you first hear about EMDR, you may wonder how eye movements can change the way you think and feel. But your eyes transmit images of the world to your brain and send it signals about how safe you are.

With EMDR, our counselors train you to make bilateral (i.e., side-to-side) movements with your eyes while you think about or talk about your traumatic event. Why are these important? When you’re afraid, you stare straight ahead, trying to make sense of what’s happening, or keeping your eye on the threat.

In contrast, looking from side to side rapidly sends signals of safety to your brain. You aren’t facing danger. When you make these movements while focusing on the traumatic event, your brain is calm enough to start processing the memories instead of being locked inside them.

EMDR is more than eye movements

Nevertheless, EMDR is more than simply making bilateral eye movements while thinking about an event. It’s a multi-step process that moves through various phases.

Phase 1

During the intake phase, you and your counselor determine which memories you should target. You identify behaviors you’d like to develop to handle future experiences that might be troubling or dangerous.

Phase 2

Your counselor teaches you the EMDR movements. They also teach you stress-reduction techniques to use between sessions.

Phases 3-6

In these phases, you directly address visual memories and negative beliefs associated with the trauma. You also concentrate on and identify the emotions and physical feelings these memories arouse. Finally, you come up with a positive belief that you could have about the memory instead.

Phase 7

You keep a log of symptoms and sensations you notice during your EMDR sessions. 

Phase 8

You evaluate your results.

EMDR is fast

Unlike more traditional types of therapy, EMDR is time-limited. You don’t spend years or decades rehashing your trauma. In most cases, you’re finished in one to three months of once-weekly sessions that last about 50 minutes each. You may notice results — more relaxation, less fear — in just a few sessions.

Would your PTSD benefit from EMDR? Find out by phoning or scheduling an online appointment with our helpful office staff at our Greenwich Village offices in New York City, New York. HIPAA-compliant teletherapy sessions are also available for your convenience.