How did EMDR start?

Photo by Amanda Dalbjörn on Unsplash

Out walking my dog along Putney embankment this weekend my husband asked me what is EMDR. He doesn’t often give me an open invitation like this as he knows I have a tendency to explain things in great depth and go on and on. EMDR is currently enjoying some special air time thanks to our departed Prince and his well-publicised butterfly hug.

EMDR is the acronym for Eye Movement Desensitisation Reprogramming. It was originally stumbled upon by Francine Shapiro in 1987. Like all great discoveries it was a chance encounter. She noticed one day when she was out walking and was thinking about something disturbing that by moving her eyes on the diagonal from lower left to upper right that the upset reduced.

“ my disturbing thought had shifted from consciousness and when I brought it back to mind, it no longer bothered me as much”

Forward wind some 40 years and EMDR is an established approach for treating PTSD survivors. It is recommended by both (The American Psychological Association)

APA in the USA and (The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence) NICE.

Its use is not restricted to trauma and anxiety, it is used for many other treatments:

  • Addiction
  • Allergies
  • Fear and panic attacks
  • Pain syndromes
  • Performance blocks
  • Phobias
  • Self-esteem issues
  • Sleeping disorders
  • Stress management
  • Undesired behavioural patterns

It is a structured eight phase approach. Safety and stabilisation are crucial for trauma treatment and EMDR is no exception. In EMDR many resources are taught. Clients are asked to practice skills each week and then as the treatment unfolds more skills are added. Our strap line is “no resources no EMDR”. So not until the client is safe, stable and able to emotionally self-regulate would we move to processing. This can take may weeks.

Eight phases of treatment

  • Phase 1: Case history and treatment planning
  • Phase 2: Stabilising the client and preparing for EMDR
  • Phase 3: Assessing the trauma
  • Phases 4-7: Processing the trauma
  • Phase 8: Evaluating treatment results

How does it work
People who suffer from PTSD have not stored their memories in the usual way post the trauma. These memories when triggered give rise to some horrendous and debilitating symptoms. EMDR focuses on the trauma memory and changes the way it is stored, so leading to a reduction of symptoms.

“It also involves cognitive restructuring, e.g. a re-evaluation of the experience, as well as a changed attitude regarding oneself and one’s own resources” EMDR Centre

To do this the therapist uses a form of bilateral stimulation. This is the use of alternating right left stimulation which can be done through eye movements, tapping on hands or knees, using light bars or music. At the same time as this stimulation is carried out the client holds in their mind some thoughts or images or feelings associated with the traumatic incident.

“A structured therapy that encourages the patient to briefly focus on the trauma memory while simultaneously experiencing bilateral stimulation (typically eye movements), which is associated with a reduction in the vividness and emotion associated with the trauma memory” APA

The jury is still out on why it works
Some believe that the bilateral method mirrors the sleep stage REM which is believed to process memories. Whilst another theory is that the left-to-right coordination increases communication between the two hemispheres of the brain.

The debate continues about its efficacy

Does it work? There is a lot of research to say yes, but there are also sceptics. But it has its fans and it has many success stories. I like Bessel Van der Volk’s comment from his book The Body Keeps Score:

“ I am much comforted by considering the history of penicillin: Almost four decades passed between discovery of its antibiotic properties by Alexander Fleming in 1928 and the final elucidation of its mechanisms in 1965”

I am a certified practitioner having trained at the EMDR Centre in London. As an EMDR therapist my role is to build client resources. EMDR has elements of many other interventions including CBT and hypnosis. One of the reasons that I like EMDR for trauma is that the client does not have to relive the horror of the trauma by retelling their story over and over.