HOW TO HEAL TRAUMA OR JUST GET UNSTUCK WITH EMDR
Do you struggle with a sense of being stuck instead of moving toward a goal you have for your life? Despite working hard for a better job, a secure relationship, or peace of mind, do you seem to go nowhere? Sometimes people may feel unable to get past the same stumbling blocks. Maybe, somewhere deep inside you, you have a belief that you’re not good enough, worthy or capable of having the life you dream of. These self-limiting beliefs may be the aftermath of trauma. A therapeutic treatment to help this type of deep trauma is called Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing, or EMDR.
EMDR IS SHOWING UP MORE COMMONLY IN MEDIA
As a result, EMDR is seeing a spike in popularity.
TRAUMA CHANGES HOW THE BRAIN RESPONDS TO DANGER SIGNALS
The body launches a stress response when something threatens a person’s survival and sense of safety. Singular events such as accidents, illnesses, or acts of violence may be the source of this danger. Chronic, and oftentimes less visible, distress, may represent years of feeling rejected, bullied, or overlooked at home or in school. It may come from a history of physical, emotional, or sexual abuse.
During a stressful event, the logical brain shuts down. The brain stem and flight-or-fight center in the amygdala take over. A flood of stress hormones, like adrenaline and automatic reactions like a pounding heart and tight muscles overwhelm the body.
These biological response become memories, stored with vivid impressions of feeling endangered or in emotional pain. In a trauma response, these memories form without the benefit of words. The body remembers the danger without a sense of space and time and can put memories in the past, using the thinking brain.
This is the most simplistic explanation of how trauma can leave individuals struggling with fears, flashbacks or overwhelmed feelings, but without the brain’s awareness on how to cope with them. Only part of the brain remembers the danger, but doesn’t have the knowledge to understand how to escape the trauma.
Events others know to be safe can cause significant distress for trauma survivors. As an example, fireworks can trigger a terrifying memory of a life-threatening explosion. A loved one’s casual frown may trigger terror in a partner who grow up fearing a frown meant rejection or abuse is coming. Trauma hijacks the logical brain and overwhelms the nervous system with alarms, stress hormones, and sensations that can be easily triggered by day to day events.
Because the nervous system continues to respond in ways that bypass the logical brain, this kind of trauma doesn’t respond well to reason. To heal this kind of trauma, it takes a special kind of treatment. This therapy is called, “bottom up treatment,” which connects the thinking parts of the brain with the trauma-altered survival system. This allows one part of the brain to soothe the other parts of the brain.
THAT IS WHERE EMDR COMES IN.
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is a type of psychotherapy developed by Francine Shapiro in the 80s. A person with trauma is treated with bilateral sensory input. The goal is to activate both sides of the brain with stimuli. These inputs mimic the rapid-eye-movement stage of sleep.
It takes the whole brain to help process trauma. Processing these past events allow trauma survivors to learn ways to manage the shutdown that can happen with traumatic memories. Even better, it helps individuals learn to develop ways to stay grounded in the present moment, as opposed to feeling flooded by a body memory.
IS EMDR A QUICK FIX?
Many people seem to believe that EMDR can treat trauma in a few short sessions. The truth is that it depends on the client, their situation and their history. One of the myths surrounding EMDR is that it’s just a tool for treating trauma. The reality is that it is a complete therapy model that includes eight phases of treatment. These phases include:
· Client History and Treatment Planning
· Preparation
· Assessment
· Desensitization
· Installation
· Body Scan
· Closure
· Reevaluation
These steps are most effective to help clients who struggle with feeling safe. It is imperative that the client has a solid and safe foundation form which to process trauma.
EMDR AS A TREATMENT FOR SINGLE INCIDENT TRAUMA
If an individual has a secure attachment and doesn’t have a history of trauma, and they experience a traumatic event like a car accident, robbery, or even going to war – EMDR may help them resolve this trauma quickly. Because a person without a complex trauma history is more likely to already be in a stabilized place from which they can process trauma.
EMDR AS A TREATMENT FOR COMPLEX AND ONGOING TRAUMA
Complex trauma is identified as “the existence of a complex form of posttraumatic disorder in survivors of prolonged, repeated trauma.” Essentially, complex trauma creates a long-lasting trauma imprint or response that impacts your brain and body enough to feel like it’s a permanent change. For individuals with complex trauma histories, the body and mind may be in a chronic state of stress and hypervigilance – always waiting for the other shoe to drop.
Childhood trauma, attachment trauma, and developmental trauma such as abuse or physical or emotional neglect will take longer to process with EMDR or any other type of therapy. This is because it takes longer to achieve a foundation grounded by emotional stability. It is time consuming for clients to establish self-care and emotional regulation resources from with the client can comfortably and safely process the trauma.
EMDR SHOULD NOT RE-TRAUMATIZE
EMDR is safe and effective, so long as the client achieves a consistent level of safety and stabilization first. To be clear, EMDR is not exposure therapy, it’s not about having an individual relieve the trauma and experience it all over again. Instead, the person must be able to view the event from a place of safety, in the present moment, while staying connected to their bodies. Without the ability to feel grounded and stay present, EMDR could prove to be traumatic in itself by causing the individual to relive the trauma instead of experiencing it in a way that supports healing.