Worldwide, about 3.9% of the general population has PTSD. For those who have experienced trauma, it rises to 5.6%. If you suffer from trauma, you might feel like there’s no escape, which can be overwhelming. While this might be the case for now, there’s hope. Read this guide on Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy and how it can help alleviate trauma today.

What Is EMDR Therapy?

EMDR was developed by psychologist Dr. Francine Shapiro in 1987. EMDR stabilization techniques involve moving your eyes a specific way while you process traumatic memories.

It helps you heal distressing experiences without having to talk about them. While it’s new, numerous clinical trials have proven it’s an effective method and much faster than others. 

It could help treat: 

• Depression
• Psychosis
• Bipolar disorder
• Anxiety disorder
• Substance use disorder 
• And more

What Are the 8 Phases of EMDR?

The eight phases of EMDR include:

• Client history
• Preparation
• Assessment
• Desensitization 
• Installation
• Body Scan
• Closure
• Re-evaluation

It’s important to be able to answer the question “How does EMDR work?” EMDR for anxiety will help you live a more pain-free life. It’ll target trauma to help your brain feel differently about them.

Assessment phases tend to be more difficult. During this phase, trauma or specific memories are targeted in therapy. Therapists will ask questions to understand your trauma better.

1. History Taking

• Therapists will learn about your history and might provide you with a standard assessment. They might have you set up treatment goals during this.
• Therapists create a target sequence plan. It’s a plan for the future and a better understanding of what impacts you from the past. 

2. Preparation

• Learn more about EMDR and understand the steps ahead. You might learn stress reduction, grounding skills, and more.
• Learn about eye movements or sensations that help you process the traumatic experience.
• Access more positive thoughts and experiences in this phase. 

3. Assessment

• Look at what you want to target with the therapist. Therapists will ask you for a negative and position cognition plus an image.
• They’ll ask you to rate the experience on a scale and how it impacts your body. 

4. Desensitization 

• Work on the next steps. All senses are involved in processing the pain you’re targeting. 
• You won’t talk about the pain during this phase. Instead, it’ll be a brief check-in. You’ll focus on tones, taps, or moving your eyes back and forth. 

5. Installation

• Improve a positive belief with a target event until it feels true. You’re changing your thoughts during this. Replace negative with positive thoughts. 

6. Body Scan

• Use bilateral stimulation to eliminate physiological symptoms.
• Focus on the positive belief and target event while you scan the body from head to toe. If you notice any disturbances, you’ll reprocess it. 

7. Closure 

• You’ll return to a state of calm in the present moment.
• Reprocessing is complete when you feel neutral about the trauma, the body is clear of the disturbance, and positive belief feels true. 

8. Re-evaluation 

• Therapists and clients discuss recent memories to ensure that the distress is low. It’s to ensure that the positive cognition is still strong.
• Future directions and targets are determined.
• If any negativity still persists, further work is needed to ensure the event is fully processed.

Therapists will return to the steps above as needed to ensure that you process it more positively. 

EMDR Ruined My Life

If you feel that this has happened to you, you’ll want to find skilled EMDR therapists near you. Inexperienced counsellors could make the condition worse. Look for an EMDR-trained clinician for EMDR therapy in Toronto or EMDR therapy “near me”. When searching for EMDR Canada, find a therapist and ask them about their previous training and education.

• First, find out where they were trained in EMDR therapy. Ensure that they have EMDRIA-approved programs.
• Next, find out if they’re certified or working toward certification. Notice how they implement EMDR. Do they start with a slow approach or rush through it? 
• See if they offer ongoing consultations to check up and see how you’re doing. Some might offer ongoing advanced training as well. 

While vivid dreams might be a side effect of EMDR, the good news is that this side effect will decrease through therapy. Working with a clinician with full training through EMDR is best. 

How To Ensure EMDR Safety?

When EMDR is used properly, it’s quite effective. You’ll feel much better overall and have a positive experience. Many find they have more control over their emotions.

It’s important to ensure that your therapist is trained in EMDR. Communicate with your therapist about any concerns you might have. Ask questions about potential side effects and how you can avoid them. If anything feels wrong during treatment, communicate this with your therapist. 

Can EMDR Help With Addiction?

It’s effective in treating addiction since it often stems from trauma. When you resolve trauma, you eliminate the need to self-soothe or act out. EMDR therapy is different from other approaches since it handles addiction at the root instead of controlling the behaviour directly. Break the addiction style and avoid self-medicating.

Why Is EMDR Effective in Anxiety Treatment?

Anxiety impacts about 264 million people worldwide. Through EMDR therapy, you’ll combine multiple cognitive processes at once. Calming behaviours have you feel more relaxed when you perform these cognitive processes. In time, you’ll think about a phobia or past trauma without feeling intense stress. This occurs even if you don’t use purposeful eye movements. 

Without anxiety about your thoughts, you can have an easier time acknowledging and moving past them. EMDR produces long-term results and goes at your pace. 

What To Expect After EMDR? 

Expect lower stress levels, feel more relief, and increase coping skills overall. Have healthier beliefs and thoughts. EMDR can help those with psychological distress, including substance abuse, trauma, depression, and more. 

Brain Spotting vs EMDR 

EMDR and brain spotting both use bilateral stimulation of a patient’s brain. Therapists use outside stimulation to focus on a patient’s eyes to activate trauma, memories, and hidden emotions. 

In brain spotting, you’ll focus on specific locations your eyes move to. Therapists could also use an object to guide your eyes to a specific focus. EMDR has you move your eyes from side to side during the exercise. 

EFT Tapping vs EMDR

Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) are a valuable method for treating PTSD, anxiety, and other mental health issues. It could help with addictive cravings, sadness, anxiety, stress, weight reduction, and more. There’s no special equipment or drugs needed. Once you learn it, you can perform it yourself. 

You’ll tap on various body parts to help balance the energy systems. It reduces emotional and physical pain. The Emotional Freedom Technique is a talk and touch therapy. 

Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR) is psychotherapy where you learn bilateral stimulation such as hand tapping or side-to-side eye movement. Your attention is redirected during EMDR. You can remember disturbing thoughts or memories without having a strong psychological reaction. 

CBT vs EMDR 

Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) combines talk and behavioural therapy. It helps to treat depression, stress, phobias, OCD, anxiety, bipolar disorder, and other mental health issues. You’ll learn about various activities to improve your coping skills. 

EMDR is an integrated psychotherapy strategy that helps clients deal with the suffering caused by traumatic memories. It’s most common for PTSD, panic disorders, and anxiety disorders. It’s a way to change how traumatic memories are stored in the brain. 

How Long Will EMDR Therapy Take?

Therapy will vary from person to person. It starts slowly with the first step until progressing further. It takes about six to twelve weeks. Many patients will experience relief after only three sessions. 

How To Choose a Trained EMDR Therapist

You can find treatment for EMDR complex trauma online. Directories and tools that help you pull up EMDR Canada therapists are effective. Then, you can decide whether you’d prefer an in-person or online therapist. 

Better Understanding What EMDR Therapy Is

After exploring this complete guide on what EMDR therapy is, you should be more equipped to understand what to expect. Take your time finding a certified therapist who offers EMDR services. Make a comparison between therapists to find your perfect match.

Are you tired of struggling with PTSD or trauma and wish there was a way out? You might feel like there’s no way to escape. While this might feel true, that’s not the case. You can finally experience relief and go back to living your life through therapy. Get started today by signing up for our trauma and PTSD programs in Toronto.

From acute to complex trauma, we’re here to help. If you have any questions along the way, we’re happy to answer them.