Alex Czop M.A., LCPC
Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor
EMDR is an acronym that stands for Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing. It is used in clinical work when a client has been afflicted with a trauma and is experiencing difficulty in being able to regulate themselves in times of duress. EMDR’s ultimate goal is to
help clients turn towards distress without dysregulating (EDMR International Association 2024). This is done through (as the name implies) stimulating eye movements. The eye movements done in EMDR stimulate the movement of memories from left to right hemisphere as traumatic memories are unable to naturally cross over from the left to the right hemisphere due to the nature of the traumatic experience itself (EDMR International Association 2024).
In EMDR therapy the clinician and the client will agree on a variety of target memories to process through this approach and through the application of EMDR are able to desentize the experience and reinforce the same experience with a more functional belief about oneself. This shift in belief is what gives the client the ability to regulate themselves in times of duress as their mind now is able to naturally go to the more functional belief as opposed to the negative belief that the client may have gone to in the past.
EMDR can help clients in a variety of areas ranging from daily life stressors to experiences of abuse. As the goal of this approach is to replace negative beliefs about one’s experiences with more functional beliefs the client increases their awareness of their natural thinking patterns which then can be used in conjugation with other therapeutic approaches (CBT, DBT, ACT, etc.) to challenge these thinking patterns. EMDR therapy on average can range from six to seven consecutive hour long sessions and can always be used at the client’s discretion. It is a nonverbal approach to treating trauma in the counseling room and works best with clients who are motivated to discover a new way of processing and relating to their traumatic experiences.
References:
About EMDR therapy. EMDR International Association. (2024 May 24). Retrieved August 1, 2024