What is Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) Psychotherapy? How Does it Help?
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is a psychotherapy technique that helps people address some of the symptoms of trauma by focusing on specific memories that cause emotional distress, and then processing them in a new way.
The technique uses left-right eye movement to help clients reprocess memories in a new way. EMDR helps people learn how to process distressing memories more effectively and reduces the emotional distress they cause. Since EMDR in Calabasas, or elsewhere, can help with almost all types of emotional pain and stress, it's often used for anxiety disorders such as PTSD and phobias, but also for depression, anger management, and relationship issues.
For example, if you experienced something traumatic and it caused you to feel anxious every time you walked past an intersection, EMDR would help you process this memory so that it no longer elicited feelings of anxiety when passing through intersections.
EMDR uses left-right eye movement to help clients reprocess memories
Just as you move your eyes from side to side in order to view objects clearly, EMDR uses left-right eye movement to help clients reprocess memories. When we see something new, our brain processes it by first encoding the information and then storing it in long-term memory. The same is true when we remember something: our brain retrieves the encoded information from long-term storage.
With EMDR therapy, therapists will ask their clients to recall a disturbing event while they move their fingers back and forth in front of them at a steady pace (usually 2 Hz). As this happens, the client's eyes track with their therapist's hand movements which help them process their trauma in a different way than before, by activating other areas of the brain responsible for processing visual information rather than just using words or thoughts alone.
EMDR helps people learn how to process distressing memories more effectively
EMDR is a combination of three processes:
focusing on specific aspects of a traumatic experience or event
focusing attention on the traumatic memory (the "reliving" part)
activating positive associations with those thoughts, feelings, and sensations that were present when the original trauma occurred
The first two steps help to retrigger the brain's natural adaptive capacities so that people can process their painful memories more effectively and reduce the emotional distress they cause. The third step re-evaluates negative beliefs about yourself or others.
Studies have shown that EMDR therapy can be effective in treating depression after only 3 sessions. This is a fast and effective treatment for depression, and it has been shown to be effective in treating many other conditions as well.
The therapist helps the client focus on the traumatic memory, and then moves their eyes from side to side. This may seem like an odd way to treat trauma and anxiety, but it's actually based on some very solid science.
The reason EMDR works is that it combines three processes while focusing on specific aspects of a traumatic experience or event:
Focusing attention on the traumatic memory;
Activating positive associations; and
Re-evaluating negative beliefs about you or others (for example, "I'm not good enough" or "No one cares about me").
Conclusion:
EMDR in Calabasas, and across the globe, is a powerful psychotherapy technique that can help people address the symptoms of trauma by focusing on specific memories that cause emotional distress, and then processing them in a new way.
Source URL: https://www.woodlandhillstherapy.net/