What to Expect in EMDR Therapy
Once a client and therapist explore what the client’s goal(s) are, the therapist will work with the client to develop resources and skills to better manage stress; these can include learning strategies to reduce anxiety, developing additional support from others, and identifying other tools to assist in whatever may be currently causing symptoms or struggles.
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The therapist will then begin to identify events that may be related to their current struggle. The research shows that memories have many components, including an image(s), a thought or belief, an emotion and a felt sense in the body related to the event or memory.
While focusing on a distressing memory and all its components, the therapist will have the clients eyes move from side to side through various techniques. In combining these two activities, the memories and felt distress begin to shift and the distress begins to dissipate.
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The goal is not to remove or change the event(s) that have occurred but to eliminate the distress and allow the client to perceive the experience in a more adaptive and healthy way. Often, when we have an overwhelming or traumatic experience, we can adopt a distorted or inaccurate view of the event and ourselves. As the disturbance diminishes, clients are able to recognize a more adaptive understanding of themselves and the event.
EMDR therapy is a collaborative approach that always allows the client to make decisions and be in control of the therapeutic process. Often therapists will incorporate other models of psychotherapy within the framework of EMDR Therapy, based on the goals and the population with whom they are working.
How EMDR Works
Look at this animation
Once a client and therapist explore what the client’s goal(s) are, the therapist will work with the client to develop resources and skills to better manage stress.
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