Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)

This document provides information about Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy. It describes EMDR as a type of therapy that can help people recover from painful past memories by using bilateral stimulation to accelerate the healing process. Painful memories tend to get "stuck" and are remembered as if they are happening in the present, but EMDR helps "unfreeze" these memories. During an EMDR session, the client brings up a painful memory while receiving bilateral stimulation from the therapist, such as eye movements, and notices any thoughts or feelings that come up, with the goal of reducing anxiety and reprocessing the memory. EMDR differs from talk therapy in that it is more non-verbal and allows processing to

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Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)

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Jackie Dotson, LCSW | 4825 J Street, Suite 223 Sacramento, CA 98519 | Ph: (916) 454-1021

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)

Do you ever look back upon something that once happened to you and tell yourself, I dont
know why I keep thinking about it or why is this still bothering me, its all in the past. Have
you ever found yourself trying to stop memories from resurfacing? Or have you ever compared
your past experiences as being not that bad compared to others? If so, then EMDR may be
helpful.
So what is EMDR anyway?
EMDR is a type of therapy that can help people recover from painful past memories. EMDR
stands for Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing. EMDR was discovered by
psychologist Francine Shapiro in 1987. She realized, while out on a walk one day, that painful
memories were somehow made less painful when she moved her eyes back and forth. She
decided to test this in a clinical setting and after years of research, developed what has come
to be known as EMDR. Her research showed that a process called bilateral stimulation,
alternately stimulating the right and left side of the brain, either through eye movements, ring
tones or tapping, somehow accelerates the healing process. Clients who focused on painful
memories while receiving bilateral stimulation from the therapist, found that the physical and
emotional pain associated with the memory decreased dramatically.
Why Painful Memories seem to get Stuck
Our everyday experiences get stored into our adaptive memory networks. You go through your
day, your experiences get saved into your memory, similar to how data gets saved on a hard
drive in a computer. Later on, you have the ability to recall some or all of this information. But
with painful experiences, memory does not get saved the same way. Painful memories tend to
get frozen in place as if the memory is saved in the present tense instead of a past event.
This is why you may find you remember a past experience as if it is happening right now. Or
when you find a current stressor is making you remember your past pain, and consequently,
making that current stressor worse. Although no one knows exactly how EMDR works in your
brain, research indicates that EMDR somehow helps unfreeze these painful memories and
helps them become part of your past history instead of an event you relive over and over.
What is an EMDR session like?
When working with an EMDR therapist, first, you will decide, with your therapist which
memories to work on getting unstuck. Doing EMDR will require that you bring up the
memory, along with any thoughts, feelings and physical sensations (such as tightness in your
stomach) that you may have. Once you are able to do this, your therapist will begin the
bilateral stimulation. At this point, you just pay attention and notice any thoughts, feelings,
and sensations that come up. Although this may sound frightening, your therapist is there to
help keep you from getting overwhelmed. Every few minutes, your therapist will stop the
bilateral movements to check in with you and you briefly report on what is happening. After
several sets of bilateral stimulation, you should find your feelings of anxiety, fear, sadness
decreasing. Your therapist will check in with you periodically to rate how you are feeling. If
you are feeling worse or if nothing is changing, let your therapist know.

Jackie Dotson, LCSW | 4825 J Street, Suite 223 Sacramento, CA 98519 | Ph: (916) 454-1021

How is EMDR different from regular talk therapy?

You may have gone to regular talk therapy before to talk about what happened to you. You
may have found that talking about it over and over did not seem to help much in terms of
changing what you think about what happened to you. You may have felt better just telling
your story or feeling validated and understood, but beyond that, still feel as if you live with the
problem every day. EMDR uses a different approach. Much of EMDR is non-verbal. Once you and
your therapist decide which memory to work on, when you process the thoughts, emotions and
feelings that come up, you are not required to describe everything that happened. By not
talking and letting your brain do the work, it seems to allow processing to happen much more
quickly. Many clients who have done EMDR for single event problems such as car crashes or
muggings, have reported relief in 1-3 sessions. The number of sessions needed varies from
person to person and depending on the nature of the problem targeted. Long-standing past
problems tend to require more time spent processing.
What kind of problems can EMDR treat?
EMDR is highly effective for problems with anxiety and worry. EMDR is a treatment of choice
for post-traumatic stress disorder. It is also used to treat: panic attacks, phobias, performance
anxiety, complicated grief, pain disorders, stress reduction and more.