What is EMDR Therapy and Why Do You Use It?
EMDR is an evidence-based technique to help you process through painful beliefs, memories, and trauma. Here's how I explain it to my clients:
Imagine your brain is like a big library. In the middle of the library, there is a long table with little librarians sorting books. This table is called your Working Memory. One day, a weird, warped blob is plopped on the Working Memory table. The little librarians don't know where or how to file this blob, so it just sits there. The little librarians keep sorting books, and every once in a while (or frequently) one of them will say "oh! This reminds me of this part of the weird blob! Do they go together?" and they pull the blob over and try to sort it again. It doesn’t quite fit, so they little librarian leaves it on the table. A little bit a later, another librarian repeats the same thing ("Does it fit together? Kind of… but the blob doesn’t get filed with this. Better leave it on the table!”) In your brain, the memory-blob comes up over and over, seemingly out of the blue.
EMDR helps those little librarians file the blob away. It helps you take apart the memory/belief and carefully catalog it so it doesn't have to sit in your Working Memory all the time. If this explanation doesn’t fit for you, here’s a video that explains it a little differently.
In session, EMDR looks like this:
The first few sessions, I collect information about the experiences you want to work through. I also teach you some coping skills so you can regulate big emotions that arise during the process.
In between sessions, you practice using the coping skills in order to strengthen them. You also take note of any situations that cause distress so we can work on those, too.
Once we are ready to reprocess, we will use “tappers”. They are small, vibrating tokens that you hold in your hands (if we are meeting via telehealth, I will instruct you on how to tap your shoulders to achieve the same effect— many of my clients have used EMDR remotely with great success!). Together, we go through the emotions, body sensations, beliefs, and images that arise with the distressing memory.
This part looks different for everyone— some people feel a shift in emotions, some people feel body distress decrease, some people have adaptive thoughts, and some people have all of these things. Whatever happens, the distress decreases. The memories are still sad, but the no longer feel like a gut punch.
Finally, we create new beliefs and stories you want to carry with you into future difficult experiences.
I use EMDR to help clients process traumatic birth experiences, sexual trauma, childhood trauma, and more. Feel free to schedule a 15 consultation to see if EMDR is the right fit for you!
