EMDR Therapy for PTSD: Personal Healing Journey

Statistics by the National Center for PTSD in the US show that the lifetime prevalence rate of PTSD is approximately 6 percent. That means 6 out of 100 people will experience it at some point in their lives. The condition has a major impact on your ability to maintain relationships and can impair functioning. 

Traditional treatment methods involve talk therapy, but these can cause you to relive the incident. It’s why mental health practitioners are recommending EMDR therapy for people struggling with PTSD. Let’s discuss what EMDR therapy means, what it includes, and why it’s an effective alternative for people who are non-responsive to traditional therapeutic methods. 

What is Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing? 

EMDR is a psychotherapy designed to manage the distress that occurs as a result of traumatic memories. It's based on the Adaptive Information Processing model by Francine Shapiro, and it works by accessing and reprocessing negative life experiences, bringing them to an adaptive resolution. 

Undergoing EMDR therapy relieves emotional distress, replaces unhelpful beliefs, and reduces levels of physiological arousal. It’s why many treatment centers like URP Behavioral Health provide EMDR as a way to help people struggling with PTSD. 

How EMDR Works 

In this form of therapy, your practitioner will ask you to focus on distressing memories in small doses. At the same time, you'll focus on a specific external stimulus, like therapist-directed back-and-forth eye movements. Other stimuli include audio stimulation and hand-tapping. 

According to Francine Shapiro, this process helps you access the traumatic memory network and build new associations between the event and adaptive memories. Building these associations leads to complete information processing, new cognitive insights, and reduction of emotional distress. 

EMDR For Your Personal Healing Journey: What To Expect  

Studies indicate that EMDR is effective for managing PTSD symptoms, reducing trauma-related symptoms, and improving people's diagnoses. Unlike other forms of traditional psychotherapy that often take place in group settings, EMDR is a wholly individual treatment.  

When you begin the process of EMDR therapy with a registered practitioner, here’s what you can expect over the course of your personal healing journey:

Phase 1: Taking Information

In the first phase, your practitioner will formulate a treatment plan by taking your personal history. They’ll discuss potential targets for EMDR processing, such as traumatic memories and present circumstances that lead to emotional distress. 

The overall length of the treatment process will depend on how many traumatic events you’ve experienced. It also depends on how old you were when you developed PTSD. 

Phase 2: Pre-Therapy 

In the preparatory phase, your practitioner will provide an explanation of what the treatment entails. They'll introduce you to specifics, such as eye movement or other bilateral stimulation components. This is also when they'll teach you stress reduction strategies, so you have the right resources to deal with negative emotions during the process. 

Phase 3: Assessment 

In an EMDR session, the assessment phase involves identifying a target memory and processing it. Your practitioner will have you identify three components of the target memory: a visual image, a negative belief, and related emotions and body sensations. 

The therapist will use measures like the Validity of Cognition (VOC) and Subjective Units of Disturbance (SUD) scales during this process. These are used throughout the treatment process to measure changes in your emotions and cognitions. 

Phase 4: Desensitization 

The desensitization phase requires focusing on the target memory at the same time as guided eye movements or any other bilateral stimulation (BLS). Afterward, you’ll share any new thoughts about the experience. You’ll continue engaging in sets of BLS until the memory no longer causes emotional distress. 

Phase 5: Installation

When the target memory is no longer distressing, you'll ‘install' positive thoughts to that memory. Your therapist will help you strengthen this positive cognition.

Phase 6: Performing a Body Scan

After you process the traumatic event and attach a positive cognition to it, your therapist will identify if there’s any residual somatic distress. This involves performing a body scan, in which you have to observe and describe your physical response when thinking about the event and the positive cognition you attached to it. If you experience any physiological or physical symptoms, you’ll engage in BLS again to process it. 

Phase 7: Closure 

At the end of the session, your therapist will evaluate whether or not your targeted memory was fully processed. If it isn't, they'll guide you on management techniques and instructions to keep yourself stable until the next session. 

Phase 8: Reevaluation

In the following session, your practitioner will evaluate your psychological state to know if you’ve maintained the effects of treatment. They’ll ask if any other memories have surfaced since the last session and discuss the target memory for your next session. 

How EMDR is Different From Other Therapies 

There are a few core differences between EMDR and traditional psychotherapies. These differences are often what makes it a suitable option for addressing PTSD symptoms: 

• It’s individual, so you’ll be talking to your therapist one-on-one instead of participating in a group session. 
• It doesn’t require talking about your trauma out loud, which is often required in traditional talk therapy and can be quite distressing. You will, however, need to think about the event. 
• There are no homework or practice assignments required between sessions. 
• You see improvements after a few sessions: Typically, EMDR therapy lasts a few months, but you’ll start noticing improvements after a couple of sessions.   

That being said, you don't have to choose one or the other. If needed, your therapist may recommend EMDR therapy in combination with other modalities. This is called adopting a holistic approach, in which you'll use evidence-based treatments in concert with mind and body wellness methods. If you're unsure of whether EMDR can benefit you, it's best to consult a mental health practitioner. They can provide a diagnosis and recommend a suitable treatment plan.