Is EMDR right for you?
EMDR (Eye Motion Desensitization and Reprocessing) can be a challenging experience…I sometimes call it the “Leg Day” of therapies, because it can be very emotionally and sometimes physically taxing. EMDR is best known for helping individuals with traumatic experiences reduce the symptoms of PTSD (Posttraumatic Stress Disorder), but it is being found effective in helping address a variety of disorders, in particular, depression and anxiety.
For more info about the effectiveness of EMDR, see my EMDR Resources and Research page.
Challenges:
Choosing to do EMDR is an act of courage because it involves accepting and tolerating a level of anticipated discomfort. It’s hard to predict how difficult EMDR will be for individuals as sometimes one difficult memory leads to another and it can be overwhelming, surprising, exhausting, and a bit scary. Sessions are ended with calming activities to mitigate the emotional response to difficult memories . Most people experience mild emotional discomfort and find EMDR challenging, but in a very manageable way.
Benefits:
Most (80%+) of the clients I work with who complete an EMDR series (about 2 prep sessions and 8 processing sessions) notice improvements in self talk, moods and overall mental health. During each EMDR session, I take subjective measurements to track progress. EMDR can also be very efficient in getting positive results, I have seen many clients who notice rapid positive changes and therapy is ended after 8 to 12 total sessions. I also work with clients who have layers of trauma (i.e. childhood abuse AND first responder traumas) who will benefit from multiple series of EMDR over longer time spans. A majority of the clients I see express gratitude for the EMDR experience and feel that it is well worth the time and emotional labor invested.
Range of Issues:
EMDR can address a range of issues and can sometimes uncover subconscious thought patterns rooted in our experiences. While EMDR is best known for addressing PTSD and significant traumatic events such as sexual assault, combat experience, first responder experiences, or motor vehicle accidents with injuries/fatalities, it can also be used for more subtle dynamics.
For example, the adult child of a highly anxious parent who was constantly worrying about the child. The now adult child has internalized (not always consciously) “my mother is worried because she doesn’t believe I am capable” which continues to impact the now adult child with low self confidence and persistent self doubt. While this dynamic doesn’t meet the diagnostic standard of PTSD, the impacts can be very analogous and in some cases more impactful than PTSD-type traumas.
Special Considerations:
Sometimes, an individual has a trauma that feels so overwhelming that they want to do EMDR, but are not sure if they are ready. For example, I worked with someone on her highly critical parents via EMDR before addressing a more challenging incident of sexual abuse with EMDR. By experiencing the EMDR process, the client was able to build the trust and confidence necessary to address the more sensitive and difficult memories later on.
With this case, part of the trauma was “blocked out” and was recovered during EMDR. While the process was challenging and scary, it helped the client improve her overall mental health and intimacy with her partner. It is not uncommon for survivors of childhood trauma (and some adult survivors) to have memories blocked (dissociative amnesia) as an adaptive way to cope with overwhelming experiences and continue functioning. These dissociative events will be screened for during preparation sessions and adjustments to the EMDR time-line and process will be made if necessary.
Suicidality:
Given the limitations of tele-health practice and EMDR broadly, it’s not appropriate for me to treat recently suicidal individuals. If you have not had any significant/intense suicidal thinking episodes (or behaviors) in the past six months, and have developed appropriate coping skills, EMDR via telehealth may be an option. I’m happy to consult and let you know if EMDR via telehealth might be the appropriate next step for you and/or other options to consider.
Here are some types of clients I have the best success using EMDR with:
Adult children of critical, abusive, neglectful and/or abandoning parents/caregivers
Survivors of violence, sexual abuse/assault, traumatic events/accidents (PTSD)
Those with significant negative self talk (associated with depression and/or anxiety)