EMDR stands for Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing. EMDR is a psychotherapeutic approach developed in the United States by Dr. Francine Shapiro and endorsed by the World Health Organization and the International Clinical Guidelines for the treatment of trauma. Likewise, it also treats emotional difficulties caused by difficult experiences in the person’s life: from panic attacks, phobias, traumatic death and grief or traumatic incidents in childhood to accidents and natural disasters. Its use has been extended to a wide range of clinical problems and more and more Psychology professionals are using this method. The EMDR approach focuses on the intervention of:
- Early life experiences
- Stressful experiences in the present
- Desired thoughts and behaviors for the future
How does EMDR work?
When we live a traumatic experience our brain may not process it and the incident is stored in a dysfunctional way, generating symptoms in the present. EMDR works on the memory that disturbs us and that has been stored dysfunctionally in our brain. The memory is the sum of several elements: image, sensations, beliefs (self-evaluations), emotions, thoughts and sounds. Its approach is based on the Adaptive Information Processing (APP) model, with which we are all born, but which is blocked as a result of highly stressful experiences maintained over time or that have had a very strong emotional impact on the person’s life and that generate symptoms over time.
By accessing the painful memory and with bilateral stimulation of the two cerebral hemispheres, we process the traumatic experiences of the past and present until the associated symptoms disappear or diminish: anxiety, anguish, insomnia, hypervigilance, irritability, fear, nightmares, rage… One of the characteristics of this therapy is the use of eye movements or other forms of bilateral stimulation.
What is bilateral stimulation?
Bilateral stimulation to facilitate access to information and association to other information networks and memories can be:
- Visual: the patient moves the eyes from one side to the other following the movement of the therapist’s fingers.
- Auditory: the patient listens through headphones to alternating sounds in both ears.
- Kinesthetic: the therapist taps alternately on both sides of the patient’s body (hands, knees or shoulders).
The goal is for the patient to process the information about the traumatic incident, leading to an adaptive resolution in which there is a reduction of symptoms, a change in beliefs and the possibility of functioning better in daily life or being able to develop their daily life. Results with EMDR can range from a few sessions for simple trauma to over a year for complex problems.