EMDR for Trauma
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is an effective treatment to address trauma. For anyone who is questioning EMDR as a treatment for themselves, this post will address how EMDR works in processing trauma and how it mimics a sleep cycle.
REM or Rapid Eye Movement is a sleep cycle that we go into for periods of time throughout the night. REM is when our eyes will move back and forth as we are sleeping. During REM we will dream but this is also important for processing our short-term memory into our long-term memory.
With someone who hasn’t had trauma, we would process the entire memory such as sounds, smells, and visual parts of the memory. We will also associate other memories that may have had the same components as this memory. This is how we learn skills that can be crossed into other situations.
With someone who has had trauma, we are unable to process this memory because we are unable to cope with what happened. This is when we will have parts of the trauma “saved” in different parts of our brain because we are unable to process it during REM. This will be projected through flashbacks. If we “save” a smell from our trauma, the next time we smell this it may bring the person back to the memory and reexperience it. With someone who doesn’t reexperience it, we can still be triggered by the smell.
EMDR mimics the REM sleep cycle where we should be processing our memories and doing it during a therapy session while we are awake. EMDR will have you focus on an image, an emotion, or body sensation and go through different parts of the memory while inducing bilateral stimulation. This is a fancy word for stimulating both sides of the body. This may look like your eyes going back and forth, holding vibration pads in each of your palms, or listening to tones in your ears.
When we don’t process our trauma, we will develop depression, anxiety, mood swings, anger issues, sleep issues, and relationship issues.
If you are interested in EDMR therapy, Mindful Counseling and Supervision offers this type of treatment to address trauma. Contact us to see how EMDR can work for you.
