Understanding EMDR Therapy: An Overview Exploring the Healing Potential

If you're familiar with the term "EMDR" (which stands for "Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing"), you may have some preconceived notions about the therapy. The therapy's complicated and unconventional nature likely contributes to its rather infamous reputation. The most common misunderstanding is that it is a form of hypnosis used exclusively for traumatic experiences or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in order to eliminate unpleasant or unwanted memories and emotions. However, this is not the case (and there are valid reasons why we should not eradicate "negative" emotions like anger and grief entirely). In a nutshell, eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) is a powerful tool for overcoming emotional and psychological challenges.

The Influence of Our Emotions on Memory

Before we can understand EMDR, we need to know about memories. Francine Shapiro came up with both EMDR and a popular way to explain memory, says that our brains store memories of traumatic events and bad situations differently than they store normal memories. This is how it goes:

When something neutral or good happens, our brains will "encode" it without any problems. And it will connect the memory in the brain to other memories, things, and people that are related to the event. Say you think of the colour "red," you might remember a red paint chip, a friend whose favourite colour is red, or a fire truck you saw this morning. All of these are memories that are connected to the idea of "red."

When bad things happen, the part of memory that stores and connects memories can shut down.

But when we go through very upsetting or stressful events, it's easy for parts of our brain that store memories to become overloaded and "go offline." This means the information is not stored all at once. Instead, it is recorded in segments, for example, the logical facts of the event may be isolated from the sensory memory, which includes the sound or visual of the event. Now you understand why stress memories can come back in pieces, like flashbacks, while normal memories have a clear beginning, middle, and end.

Going through a stressful event also makes us more aware of danger. Just like our bodies are built to keep us safe, when bad things happen, our brains will try to keep them from happening again. This means that our brains will look for signs of the traumatic event in our surroundings, sometimes without us even realizing it. As soon as it finds a match, it will bring up the traumatic experience.

Traumatic memories, on the other hand, are stored in pieces and don't always have a clear beginning or end. This makes the memory feel like the event is happening again right now, instead of in the past.  So, when engaged, or "triggered," a person may react in a way that doesn't make sense because they feel threatened again right away.

Changing Memory

The plasticity of the brain means it is flexible and can change. When we think about a memory, the brain pathways change a little each time, slightly altering the memory. This makes memories flexible and able to change over time. While this can be seen as a weakness, like why eyewitness accounts can be unreliable, it’s also helpful because we can revisit and change memories that caused us distress. EMDR therapy works by directly targeting and changing memories to reduce distress, unlike other therapies that focus on thoughts, feelings, or behavior.

EMDR and Emotion Processing

EMDR works by using the brain's natural emotion-processing system, similar to what happens during REM sleep. In REM sleep, eye movements help regulate emotions and move memories into long-term storage. This same type of stimulation can be found in activities like walking, which may explain why walking can help reduce stress.

In EMDR therapy, the therapist uses something you can see, hear, or feel, moving it back and forth to stimulate both sides of the brain. For example, moving their fingers side to side across your field of vision, or having you hold a ‘tapper’ in your hands that buzzes from one hand to the other.  This helps calm your nervous system while you focus on a traumatic memory, allowing your brain to process it safely.

This process helps people change their relationship to a painful memory, making it less distressing. Many EMDR clients feel empowered and less affected by past trauma because they have processed it properly.

EMDR has been officially recognised across the world as an effective evidence-based treatment. EMDR is often recognized for its effectiveness in addressing trauma and PTSD, but it can also be beneficial for various other issues like anxiety disorders, depression, dissociative disorders, eating disorders, personality disorders, chronic pain, and addiction. The treatment works by focusing on any unprocessed memory, emotion, or experience that's at the heart of the condition.

Unlike other therapies, EMDR therapists don’t offer advice or interpretations. They help clients process their own emotions, requiring clients to face and tolerate difficult feelings to heal.