EMDR in San Luis Obispo
What is EMDR?
Eye Movement Desensitization & Reprocessing
EMDR is a very comprehensive therapy with extensive research confirming its effectiveness. It is a proven method for recovering from trauma and PTSD, as well as a wide range of issues and symptoms of distress. Where talk therapy is generally slower, and may take years to make a difference, EMDR can require fewer sessions, thereby accelerating the healing process. This therapy is designed to resolve the unprocessed remnants of disturbing life experiences that continue to arise and interfere with your mental and emotional wellness. It changes how these experiences are stored in the brain, restoring a sense of wholeness and healthy functioning. Your therapist offers EMDR in San Luis Obispo, or by telehealth in CA.
There has been so much research on the validity and positive outcomes of EMDR that is now recognized by organizations such as: American Psychological Association, American Psychiatric Association, National Alliance on Mental Illness, International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, World Health Organization.
EMDR is Beneficial for Many Issues
Trauma – PTSD – Anxiety – Phobias -Panic Attacks
OCD – Performance Anxiety
Depression – Grief & Loss – Dissociative Disorders
Performance Anxiety – Sleep Disturbance – Addictions
Stress from Chronic Pain & Chronic Illness
Bipolar Disorder – Personality Disorders – Eating Disorders
What to Expect During an EMDR Session
EMDR sessions occur once or twice a week and may last 60 to 90 minutes. A typical course of treatment may take 6 to 12 sessions. For some people, treatment is faster and fewer sessions are needed. Therapy will begin by learning about your history and the issues you want to target. The targets can include past memories, disturbing experiences, current triggers, or future goals. The therapist will then work with you to guide you through the 8 phases of EMDR therapy.
Before reprocessing begins, you will be prepared with techniques to help provide a balancing and calming effect for the nervous system. This therapy is not intended to cause you to be exposed to an extended trauma flashback, nor does it require detailed descriptions of the event. Although some activation is necessary and is part of the ingredient needed to make the therapy successful, this needs to feel manageable for you. It should always occur within your own window of tolerance, capacity, and comfort. Your therapist will communicate with you to establish a productive therapeutic container.
During reprocessing, the therapist will guide you to focus on the target symptoms or memories in a sequenced manner, while applying bilateral stimulation. Different forms of rhythmic bilateral stimulation can be utilized, such as eye movements, tapping, or through tones / music. The therapist will work with you on maladaptive beliefs, feelings, and physical sensations that may have formed during the initial event, shifting these towards more adaptive and healthy ways of experiencing. Reprocessing will continue in sequenced rounds until the target is not longer activating in a way that causes problematic symptoms. In the final phase of EMDR, new adaptive ways of being are reinforced and strengthened.
How Does EMDR Impact the Brain?
EMDR helps to reprocess difficult memories that have been maladaptively stored in the brain as a result of disturbing life events. Areas of the brain that play a role include the amygdala, hippocampus, and prefrontal cortex. Memories can become distorted and fragmented in the face of trauma. These memories contain the feelings, sensations, thoughts, and beliefs that occurred during the original event, but they get stuck in incomplete or improper states. In essence, a part of the brain doesn’t know the trauma is now over with. When this happens, symptoms can be triggered anytime or anywhere as we move through life and encounter re-activating cues. This is the cause of PTSD symptoms.
EMDR works to address the unprocessed distress through a structured process. Therapy targets problematic memories and helps to change the way the brain stores them. When reprocessing occurs, symptoms dissipate. Part of the way this works is through an innate neurobiological process known as memory reconsolidation (MRC). EMDR is an excellent modality for facilitating MRC. The use of bilateral stimulation during EMDR helps information processing to cross over into both hemispheres of the brain, and it helps bring the nervous system into a state of balance.
