By Kate Holland, MA, Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor, John R. Day & Associates, Christian Psychological Associates
I recently attended a three-day conference near Chicago on EMDR, which stands for eye movement desensitization reprocessing. Quite a mouthful, I know. EMDR was founded by Francine Shapiro upon realizing that when clients were exposed to bilateral stimulation from bilateral eye movement, they were able to fully process a trauma to the point of desensitization to traumatic responses. For instance, when military veterans undergo EMDR, they experience a decrease in flashbacks and nightmares associated with the trauma.
When experiencing trauma, we describe the event as shocking and leaving us speechless. There is a legitimate reason for that. The broca area, or area of the brain responsible for language, located in the left hemisphere, shuts down and we are not able to fully process the trauma between both hemispheres. The exposure to bilateral stimulation through EMDR is like swiping a cell phone and unlocking it to be able to fully function.
Initially, the bilateral stimulation was only offered through the therapist moving their pointer and middle fingers in front of the clients’ eyes for them to follow back and forth, or a light bar that would create a light moving back and forth, hence the eye movement (EM) part of EMDR. This has become somewhat of a misnomer for two reasons. More mediums for bilateral stimulation have been developed, including the Theratapper and bilateral audio musical exposure for use in treating the the blind, who need to be treated without using eye movement. The Theratapper is a small box that has three controls: length, intensity, and pulse that regulate the vibrations of two small paddles clients hold in either hand while processing. The bilateral audio musical exposure is somewhat self-explanatory in that a client can listen to calming music that alternates between each ear while processing.
Prior to beginning an actual EMDR session, it is important to establish a safe container where the client can visually store their traumas and from which they can retrieve a single trauma for each session. Some examples of containers are a safe, jail cell, mason jar, and locker, just to name a few of the ideas clients have created. Furthermore, clients must create a safe place through guided imagery to where they can “escape” momentarily and experience through all five senses should processing the trauma become too intense. Some safe places have been the beach, a cabin in the mountains, and the clouds.
At the beginning of an EMDR session, the client is asked to retrieve their target trauma for the session from their safe container. Then clients are asked to share the worst image associated with the trauma, the feelings and body sensations of the feelings, the negative thought about themselves or the world related to the trauma, and a rating on a scale of 0 to 10 of how distressed they feel by the whole picture — 0 being no distress, 10 being the most distressed. The bilateral stimulation is presented and the client begins to process the scene without judgement. The therapist then periodically checks in with the client multiple times to see what the client notices differently about the image until the client is desensitized to a 1 or 0 on the scale in relation to the original trauma image. The goal of EMDR is to get to a 0 in, hopefully, one session. My experience is that neither of these two things are always possible. Some traumas require processing a single trauma in more than one session and having to put the remainder of the trauma back into the safe container until the next session. It is not uncommon for clients to return having decreased even further on the scale since the brain continues to process even after the bilateral stimulation has ceased. Furthermore, for some clients who may still be experiencing some of the trauma presently, a 0 may not be completely realistic. However, by the end of the session, clients should have experienced some decrease in negative feelings and thoughts and a shift from negative to positive self-beliefs.
For more information or to book an appointment, contact John R. Day & Associates, Christian Psychological Associates, located at 3716 West Brighton Avenue, Peoria, or their additional locations in Normal, Canton, Pekin, Princeton, or Eureka. Call us at 309-692-7755 or visit us online at www.christianspychological.org.