EMDR

There are many resources on the internet that give a broad perspective on EMDR Therapy and what it can do. I provide links to some of these resources below. In my Counselling and Psychotherapy practice in Dundrum and Dublin city centre I can use EMDR therapy to compliment the work we do and help overcome persistent problems caused by troubling events from the past. In this blog post I will briefly outline what EMDR is and what you might expect if we decide EMDR is the right treatment for you. I often use it in combination with other forms of therapeutic work. Firstly EMDR is an approved treatment for mental health issues that stands for EYE MOVEMENT DESENSITISATION REPROCSSING The most important of these four words is REPROCESSING, the main point of EMDR therapy is to allow a person to better process memories of a traumatic experience. The traumatic experience can be anything known or unknown that has left a lasting negative impact on our day to day functioning. EMDR was originally developed for use with combat veterans in the U.S and for victims of sexual assault suffering with PTSD but it has since been formulated for general use treating symptoms of anxiety, depression, panic attacks, performance problems, phobias, accidents, assaults etc. The basic method to help REPROCESSING of memories is called Dual Attention Stimulation, to have 'one foot in the past' i.e. to be able to think about a traumatic memory while keeping 'one foot in the present' i.e. staying in the present, this is where EYE MOVEMENT and the safe space of the therapeutic relationship play their part. Often with traumatic memories we are not able to keep this Dual Attention. Firstly, we don't want to go back to the past memory and if we do it can overwhelm us completely and it is never allowed into our “Normal Memory”. EYE MOVEMENT or other forms of Dual Attention Stimulation will help keep the memory from overwhelming us. It may still feel unpleasant that you had to experience something traumatic in the first place, but once it has been reprocessed in the present moment it becomes more like a regular memory and less like something that is still happening. Also EMDR differs from other therapies in that it is not necessary to divulge explicit details of the original experience. We can focus on the sensations that a memory causes and work with that. Another critical component of EMDR is pairing the distressing image with a more positive thought. Something like, “It’s not my fault” or “I’m OK now.” The memory is still there. The event still happened. But instead of thinking about it and feeling bad about yourself and having a negative reaction in your body, you feel neutral. People often say “The memory is there. It happened. But it doesn’t bother me anymore.” EMDR is structured in eight phases that will be followed during the course of the therapy and like most therapies the amount of sessions needed can not be known at the outset. Very briefly the eight phases are Phase 1 : Assessment and History Taking. What brings you to seek therapy. Is EMDR right for you. If we agree to work together we collect some target memories or feelings you are experiencing in your present day that are causing you distress that we can work on. Phase 2: Safety. We make sure that you are equipped to deal with any emotional distress that may arise either in the session or between sessions. Phases 3 – 6 : Desensitisation and Reprocessing. This is where we work on the target image or memory using Dual Attention Stimulation. We may find new memories to target for our next session, we track the real time effect of the original memory and we begin to notice more positive cognitions come in around the target image. Phase 7. Closure. This is where we check in on the work we have done, if new material came up during the session we make note of that and ensure that the strategies we worked on in Phase 2 (safety) are firm in the mind for the coming week. We sometimes decide to keep a log during the week to see if any further material came up or to see what we might need to work on in the coming sessions. If there is no more material this is the end of the EMDR treatment. Phase 8. Re-examination. This is the beginning of the next session. We examine the work so far and where we need to go now, Identifying a target image, ensuring safety, desensitisation and reprocessing etc.