What is EMDR?

EMDR is a hot topic in therapy. What is EMDR? How does it work? What is it good for?

EMDR stands for Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing. It is a modality that works to process traumatic events and rewrite the false beliefs those events have instilled in ourselves.

The brain handles traumatic memories differently than nontraumatic memories. When a person experiences trauma, the brain's encoding process is often disrupted by the overwhelming nature of the event. Instead of being processed and integrated into narrative memory (the memory of events and experiences), traumatic memories may be stored in fragmented, sensory-based forms. When the brain tries to recall these memories that have been stored as traumatic memories, the brain doesn’t see them as memories. The brain sees them as current events happening now. This can result in flashbacks, intrusive thoughts, and emotional reactivity associated with the traumatic event.

EMDR helps the brain take these memories that have been stored as traumatic memories and reprocess them and store them as narrative memory. EMDR will not turn traumatic memories into pleasant memories, but it will help gain distance and space from those memories so that when they are recalled, the brain sees them as narrative memories and memories from the past.

Traumatic events also can instill negative beliefs about oneself, often called “negative cognitions”. EMDR looks at those negative cognitions and challenges them, allowing the brain to reprocess these beliefs and replace them with a true, positive cognition.

EMDR can be a powerful tool to help break free from the trap of traumatic events.

(Shapiro, 2018)