Unearth Healing & Wellness
EMDR Institute
“Through vulnerability strength is built, with each moment of pain, trauma, sadness, fear we evolve.”
– Carolina A. Miranda
What is EMDR?
EMDR stands for Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing Therapy. EMDR is a modality to treat trauma, anxiety, and depression and panic disorders. It is used to reprocess a traumatic event or memory causing the disturbance through eye movements in a conscious state to allow for the brain to properly process memories and emotions as the body properly regulates sensations from the memory. Using the detailed protocols and procedures learned in EMDR therapy training sessions, clinicians help clients activate their natural healing processes.
EMDR therapy is an eight-phase treatment; history taking, client preparation, assessment, desensitization, installation, body scan, closure, and examining the progress of the treatment. After the clinician has determined which trauma memory to target first, and the client has strengthened coping skills during the client preparation stage, the therapist asks the client to hold different aspects of that event or thought in mind and use their eyes to track the therapist’s hand as it moves back and forth across the client’s field of vision. This eye movement (bilateral stimulation), is believed to be connected with the biological mechanisms involved in Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep. Through this, internal associations arise and the clients begin to process the memory and disturbing feelings in a conscious state.
8 Stages of EMDR
When we experience trauma, or disturbing events, our body naturally responds in fight, flight or freeze response. If the event is not processed properly through the properties of mind and body energetically there will be a stuck or stagnant response. The body as well as the mind does not safely store a memory in the brain appropriately. When left untreated it can result in somatic symptoms, anxiety, panic attacks, numbing or dissociation and negative beliefs. EMDR is a psychotherapy for trauma resolution that enables people to heal from the symptoms and emotional distress that are the result of disturbing life experience.
Benefits of EMDR go beyond treating trauma and symptoms associated with it.
EMDR can also bring relief to individuals dealing with:
- anxiety
- depression
- panic attacks
- stress reduction
- low self esteem
- grief
- disturbing memories
Holistic approach to EMDR
EMDR Institute, Inc.
Founded by Francine Shapiro, PhD
Providing an effective therapy for the treatment of trauma.
The EMDR Institute™, founded by Dr Francine Shapiro in 1990, offers quality trainings in the EMDR™ therapy methodology, a treatment approach which has been empirically validated in over 30 randomized studies of trauma victims. An additional 25 studies have demonstrated positive effects for the eye movement component used in EMDR therapy.
WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION (2013)
Guidelines for the Management of Conditions Specifically Related to Stress. Geneva, Switzerland: Author.
Trauma-focused CBT and EMDR are the only psychotherapies recommended for children, adolescents and adults with PTSD.
AMERICAN PSYCHIATRIC ASSOCIATION (2004)
Practice Guideline for the Treatment of Patients with Acute Stress Disorder and Post-traumatic Stress Disorder. Arlington,VA: American Psychiatric Association Practice Guidelines. EMDR therapy was determined to be an effective treatment of trauma.
RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED STUDIES
36 randomized controlled studies have evaluated EMDR therapy in the treatment of trauma.
DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS AND DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE (2017)
VA/DoD Clinical Practice Guideline for the Management of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and Acute Stress Disorder. Washington, DC: Veterans Health Administration, Department of Veterans Affairs and Health Affairs, Department of Defense. EMDR was given the highest level of recommendation and placed in the category of three “trauma-focused psychotherapies with the strongest evidence from clinical trials . . . These treatments have been tested in numerous clinical trials, in patients with complex presentations and comorbidities, compared to active control conditions, have long-term follow-up, and have been validated by research teams other than the developers.”
References:
Mindfulness mediates the physiological markers of stress: Systematic review and meta-analysis https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28863392/
What is EMDR? https://www.emdr.com/what-is-emdr/