What is Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)?
- Lisa Clarabut
- Feb 17, 2024
- 2 min read
“Trauma is not what happens to us. But what we hold inside in the absence of an empathetic witness.”
-Peter A Levine, PhD
In December 2023, I completed my training in SAFE EMDR, this stands for Somatic and Attachment Focused Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing. Meaning that the resources and skills I have learned when using EMDR integrate somatic body work and use an understanding of the impacts of attachment and relationships on traumatic experiences.
People can experience trauma due to many types of events, from being in a car accident to growing up in an abusive environment. Trauma is any experience that was less than nurturing, or any stressor that overwhelmed your nervous system's ability to cope. It is not helpful to compare “types of traumas” because what matters is each individual’s experience and how overwhelming it is to them. When we experience a traumatic event, the part of the brain that regulates automatic processes like breathing is activated to help us stay alive. Our body goes into survival mode and the front brain goes “offline”, meaning that our brain does not have the ability to process the traumatic memories completely and the experience gets stuck in our systems.
When a traumatic event happens, the memories are stored physically in the brain, and the brain reacts as if the original disturbing event is happening. This can leave people feeling anxious and hypervigilant, as though alarm bells are going off in the brain.
EMDR treatment helps to move the memory to a more functional part of the brain where it can be stored it in a way that allows the experience of the event to be known and felt as it is in the past and not the present. The events that previously activated the brain into overreaction no longer have that same effect and the person can now react to the present without the past interfering.
EMDR is a well-researched and evidence-based practice that changes the rewiring in the
brain by using bilateral stimulation (this could be eye movements or tapping), while recalling disturbing memories. This is thought to help the brain reprocess the traumatic memories, allowing the individual to process and integrate the emotions, thoughts, and sensations associated with the trauma in a more adaptive way.
EMDR is an 8-phase process, the first 2 phases assess an individual’s readiness for reprocessing and establish therapeutic rapport and safety. The nice thing about EMDR work is that individuals do not need to explain details of the traumatic event. The process is designed for people to give a brief ‘headline’ of the memory that will become the target for reprocessing. There is no predicting how quickly the EMDR sessions will move along, and some people need many sessions for reprocessing, depending on their trauma history.
Contact me at lisaclarabutrcc@gmail.com if you want to connect.
“Trauma is not what happens to you, it’s what happens inside of you as a result of what happened to you.”
-Gabor Mate
Here are some helpful links/videos for more information on EMDR:
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