Getting Past the Past
—EMDR Therapy
After a disturbing event, you may start wondering: when and how can I let it go?
You may also feel very frustrated: this happened a while ago, so why am I still "holding the grudge"?
Don't worry. It is normal for you to feel this way. This is how TRAUMA works.
Trauma is the natural response to a deeply distressing or disturbing event that overwhelms an individual's ability to cope. Trauma causes feelings of helplessness, diminishes your sense of self and your ability to feel the full range of emotions and experiences. You can read more about trauma here: Why is Letting Go of the Past So Hard to Do?
EMDR, or Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing Therapy, is an integrative psychotherapy approach that has been extensively researched and proven effective for treating trauma, anxiety, panic disorders, disturbing memories, and post-traumatic stress, and many other emotional problems.
How Does EMDR Therapy Work?
EMDR therapy model believes that our mind heals from psychological trauma, just like our body recovers from physical trauma.
For example, when you cut your hand, your body works to close the wound.
However, if a foreign object repeatedly irritates the wound on your hand, it festers and causes pain.
Once you remove the foreign object and put a band-aid on your hand to protect the wound from getting irritated again, the healing automatically resumes.
The same thing happens with psychological trauma.
Your brain's information processing system naturally wants to heal the emotional wound.
If the system is blocked or imbalanced by the impact of a disturbing event, the emotional wound festers and can cause intense suffering.
Once you remove the block, the emotional healing resumes.
EMDR therapy is an effective psychotherapy model to help you remove the healing block.
What does an EMDR session look like?
EMDR therapy is not a traditional talk-therapy like most other psychotherapy models. It is a mindfulness-based approach with a somatic aspect.
In an EMDR therapy session, the therapist first creates a trusting and connected environment for you to explore the emotional wound safely.
Then, the therapist helps you re-activate your neural networks associated with the targeted disturbing event.
The therapist asks you to use your eyes to track the therapist's finger as it moves back and forth across your field of vision, which is called bilateral stimulation. On some occasions, the therapist also uses tapping and "butterfly hug" techniques to conduct bilateral stimulation.
Using the bilateral stimulation, the therapist helps your brain imitate the biological mechanisms involved in Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep, which will help the internal associations arise. You will then begin to process memory and disturbing feelings. You will find a more reparative experience that can facilitate integration throughout the brain.
In successful EMDR therapy, the meaning of painful events is transformed on an emotional level.
Unlike traditional therapy, the EMDR therapist will not interpret the event for you; you gain the insight, wisdom, and strength to heal the emotional wound from inside.
Here’s a video explaining how EMDR works:
Learn more about EMDR at the EMDR Institute.
Dora Dui Chen, LCSW, Anxiety & Trauma Therapist
Dora is a bilingual/bi-cultural (Mandarin Chinese) psychotherapist offering therapy services to individuals and families in California. She specializes in supporting clients manage life stress and worry, heal emotional wounds, and find their true selves. Dora is a IFS and EMDR therapy. Learn more about Dora’s therapy services here.