I couple weekends ago, I completed the first part of my EMDR training and I am looking forward to integrating this into my work with clients.
For those of you that don’t know, EMDR stands for Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing. It is an evidence-based psychotherapy method proven to help people recover from trauma and distressing life experiences.
Here are some interesting facts about this model:
👉🏻EMDR does not involve a lot of detailed talking about the issue or trauma, instead it allows the brain to resume it’s natural healing process.
👉🏼In the experience of processing, this model asks clients to just notice what’s going on in their bodies and thoughts instead of spending a lot of time discussing meaning and unpacking the event itself.
👉🏽Unprocessed traumatic memories that can include images, thoughts, and emotions can create feelings of overwhelm of being back in that moment. EMDR helps the brain to process this and allow normal healing to resume.
👉🏾Attention is given to a negative image, belief or body sensation related to the event and helps shift to a positive belief that indicates the issue is resolved. For example, moving from a negative belief like “I am worthless” to “I am worthy.” New insight, increased positive affects and change in physical sensations are all apart of EMDR.
👉🏿Although clients can feel those challenging emotions and sensations in the present moment during therapy, processing moves quickly and it is just the old stuff getting out.
👉🏾EMDR isn’t just for adults, children can also benefit from it as well!
👉🏽EMDR uses bilateral stimulation like tapping, eyes following the clinicians fingers back and forth, a buzzer machine or a light machine.
👉🏼EMDR can be helpful for anxiety, panic attacks, depression, eating disorders, grief, loss, pain, performance anxiety, PTSD, trauma, stress related issues, sexual assault, and much more!
I am so excited to keep learning more about this model and to put it into practice. One thing I took away from the training is that I need to be kind to myself in this new journey as I step outside my comfort zone. 𝙄 𝙜𝙤𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨!
Sessions with Linz 