EMDR therapy or eye movement desensitization reprocessing is an eye movement therapy that helps your brain to process and store memories differently. This allows you to move from a trauma state (fight flight, freeze, fawn) to a more relaxed and calm state. Our mental health counselors are trained in both!
Eye movement desensitization reprocessing (EMDR) is an effective trauma treatment and most clients report positive effects after only a few sessions. It is an internationally recognized treatment method that is used by thousands of therapists around the world.
It was discovered by a Psychologist named Francine Shapiro in 1987. EMDR uses elements of many therapeutic approaches in combination with eye movements or other forms of rhythmic stimulation to stimulate the brain’s information-processing system. The intention of EMDR is to help people process traumatic events and to decrease emotional distress. EMDR is based on the theory that when a person is upset by a particular event, their brain cannot process information as it does ordinarily. A particular moment becomes frozen and remembering an incident/trauma may feel as bad as going through it the first time because the images, sounds, smells, and feelings haven’t changed (EMDRIA, 2000).
These memories can have a lasting negative effect on the way a person sees the world and relates to other people. It can also change how people see themselves in relation to the world. For example, an abused child may grow up thinking “I’m not good enough.” EMDR helps to resume normal information processing of these “frozen” moments and the negative beliefs that are attached to them.
After an EMDR session the images, sounds, and feelings no longer are relived when the event is brought to mind. What happened is still remembered, but it is less upsetting (EMDRIA, 2000). Also, because the memory has become integrated, then negative beliefs associated with the event can become more rational and realistic. Therefore then an adult who felt “I’m not good enough” may begin to see that the abuse was not their fault and instead may begin to believe “I am good enough.”
Contact us at New Leaf Counseling in Sandy, UT to learn more about our professional counseling services.
