Part 1: I get a lot of people asking what EMDR is "all about."

Many people in my personal life ask me what EMDR is "all about."  By the way, if you ever find yourself asking me about EMDR, be prepared to learn for the next two hours. I can't contain everything I want to say about EMDR in this post and it's something I am very passionate about.  Today we're going to talk about what EMDR means, what's it like to experience, and how it works.

To begin, EMDR is an acronym that stands for Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing. For those of you who have heard of EMDR you probably think "that's the weird therapy when a therapist moves their hand in front of your face." You're not wrong! However, there is so much more to it than the eye movements (referred to a Bilateral Stimulation or BLS). EMDR is the evidence-based therapy modality for treating Post-traumatic Stress Disorder and other trauma-related problems. It is also used with other disorders including depression, anxiety, bipolar, other mood disorders, substance use disorders, psychosomatic disorders, and often personality disorders. If you're interested to learn more about studies that have been done, please visit these sites:
National Center for Biotechnology Information
EMDR Research Foundation

You’re probably curious what it is actually like to undergo EMDR therapy. When therapists become certified to use EMDR we learn by practicing it. This means we end up engaging in our own EMDR.  Myself, friends and other therapists have found EMDR transformative. However, everyone's process is unique, and beginning EMDR was frustrating for me as my mind did not initially want to open up. This is normal and the trained EMDR therapist will be able to navigate roadblocks like these. Once the "static block" cleared up, my mind raced from one topic to another, dredging up painful experiences and resolving them. This was a felt experience as much as a cognitive experience, and my body tensed and yawned and released stress through the process.  Many peoples' bodies hold onto emotions just as strongly or even stronger than our mind and hearts do. (If this is something you're interested in, I HIGHLY suggest reading the book "The Body Keeps the Score" by Bessel Van Der Kolk).


When most people think of EMDR they picture the eye movements. What many people don't know is that the eye movements are part of Phase 4 of EMDR, and there are eight phases. The different phases of EMDR cover things like preparing the person to enter old memories,  re-processing, and creating a new way to look at situations. The therapist helps guide a person through the memories that are selected, and re-processing those that come up. It isn’t all about eye movements!!

EMDR is based on the Adaptive Information Processing model of memories. This model says that we "link" our new experiences to old experiences in order to fit them into our story. However, some events just don't fit. The event itself doesn't matter much, what really matters is how we process this event. Sometimes it will end up "maladaptivly stored;" a memory of an event that makes us feel terrible when we remember it. A maladaptively stored memory could be as simple as remembering when a bully yelled at us and caused us to trip and all of our classmates laughed. Usually these kinds of memories are accompanied by an intense physical sensation (maybe a clenching stomach or a tight throat) and negative thoughts about ourselves (like "I am a loser").  It's a "little t" trauma.  Most people have between 2-20 maladaptively stored memories, and they can affect how we think about ourselves in day to day situations.

Re-processing our memories with the help of an EMDR therapist allows our minds to do the healing that we need in order to get past those memories. One of the things that really surprised me when I first started using EMDR is how much faster a client can "heal" while using EMDR. Our minds take us exactly where we need to go.  It is a wild journey to witness and to accompany people on.

EMDR is a relatively new therapy technique, but if you ask anyone who has been through it you will likely find it can transform us. It doesn't just "patch us up" or help us cope, it really heals.

If you have an experience of EMDR that you'd like to share, I'd love to hear about it! If you have questions or want to know more please do not hesitate to ask. Just make sure you have at least a half day to talk! Watch for Part 2 of this blog post, where we talk about EMDR and some special issues it can really help with.

And, as always, if you find the content of this blog post interesting, and think it would be helpful to explore deeper with a professional, you may contact us at info@summitcountytherapy.com or view the website: SummitCountyTherapy.com