What is Eye Movement Desensitization & Reprocessing EMDR Therapy?

A Quick Guide

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing Therapy is a type of therapy that involves typical eye movements (bilateral stimulation) while focusing on a person’s emotional distress or trauma. In this article, we will look into what EMDR therapy is, its purpose, and its benefits along with certain misconceptions.

EMDR therapy

EMDR (Eye movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) Therapy is an empirically supported treatment for a wide variety of psychological conditions. Such as trauma, depression, anxiety, personality issues, disturbing childhood memories etc. It was first developed by Francine Shapiro in 1987. Till then, multiple researchers have found its effectiveness as a treatment for various mental health conditions.

The Purpose of EMDR Therapy

The aim of EMDR therapy is to help a person to understand the effect of his past memories on the present. Particularly, negative images, thoughts, emotions, physical responses, and beliefs associated with such memories can impact him in the present. This effect manifests in the form of psychological symptoms and behavioral patterns. E.g. anxiety, flashbacks, intrusive memories, distressing dreams, disturbed sleep, low mood, avoidant behavior, etc. The clinician helps such a person to be aware of his negative experiences, understand them, and give them a more healthy and adaptive meaning such that their negative impact lessens or even diminishes.

EMDR therapy helps people to

• Learn about their negative past experiences or childhood memories.
• Link them to their present triggers of distressing symptoms.
• Desensitizes them to the root of the trigger i.e. the memory and the associated symptoms.
• Form adaptive meaning and beliefs about past experiences
• Develop appropriate future behavior that can enhance personal well-being and social functioning in relationships.

Misconceptions about EMDR therapy

There are certain popular misconceptions about EMDR’s therapeutic process. A few of them include the following:

• Eye movement is the entire foundation of EMDR therapy: Whereas, in reality, eye movement is just one component of it. Its only purpose is bilateral dual attention stimulation. Any other dual stimulation activities can be used to achieve the same effect. For example, tapping both hands on the chest, using hand buzzers, etc. Apart from this, there are various other procedural, experiential, cognitive, and behavioral elements embedded in the EMDR treatment process.
  
• EMDR therapy is the same for everyone: It is important to adapt EMDR treatment as one size does not fit everyone. Especially according to the person’s needs, preferences, and underlying pathology. The person and the clinician jointly discuss and come up with the memory targets for processing. These of course vary across individuals.
  
• EMDR therapy only works for big or severe traumatic memories: Although people with PTSD benefit from EMDR treatment the most. However, having severe traumatic memories or highly distressing symptoms is not a necessary condition for it. Anyone with negative past experiences or childhood memories that negatively affect the present can undergo this therapy to achieve its benefits.
  
• EMDR therapy only focuses on desensitization: Desensitization is only part of EMDR treatment. Apart from this, a lot of reprocessing is done, adaptive meanings are given to disturbing experiences, and new behaviors and beliefs are learned by the person. This facilitates his self-concept self-efficacy, resilience, and overall well-being.

To learn more about EMDR as a psychotherapeutic treatment approach, check out the related articles.