EMDR

The first three phases of EMDR therapy are a lot like other therapies you may have experienced. When you come in for your first appointment, I will do a general intake, discuss the process of therapy, the nature of our relationship, and collect information about your physical, mental, emotional, and social health and history. Next, we will collaborate to determine your most immediate concerns and create a treatment plan to get you where you'd like to be. Following that there may be some assessment's given, depending on the nature of your concerns. Finally, you can expect some time will be spent preparing for the therapeutic interventions. This preparation, too, varies for each individual and treatment plan, but typically involves some type of education about the nature of the problem, the expected outcomes and possible barriers,  and installation of calming and coping resources to support you through the process. All of which you are likely to experience in any other counseling approach. 

Phase 4 of EMDR is where the therapeutic approach begins to shift to a more neurobiological focus. In this phase, called Desensitization, the attention begins to move towards changing the ways the brain and body associate past traumas and future fears with present triggers. Instead of directing you to write out or tell the story of what you have experienced, as is done in many other trauma processing therapies, your therapist will simply ask you to shift your attention to the targeted memory as  they begin Bilateral Dual Attention Stimulation (BLDAS). In other words;

EMDR doesn't require a lot of talking!

BLDAS is the use of some activity (eye movements, auditory, or tapping) that activates both the left and right hemispheres of the brain, while also thinking of a targeted, typically bothersome, memory. This process allows activation of the specific memory network associated with the trauma while also taxing the working memory, which allows the thought to be desensitized and reprocessed. In EMDR, the trauma processing is done through eye movements or other forms of bilateral stimulation which often speeds up your ability to integrate distressing material into healthy and adaptive neural pathways. This is how the emotional charge is removed from the memory and also explains how presently associated triggers become neutralized. 

As mentioned earlier, most other forms of trauma therapy approach memory reconsolidation and integration through talking, story-telling, and other forms of detailed, prolonged exposure to the traumatic event. Depending on the client and their goals these other therapies may be perfectly suited, but I have found that a lot of individuals prefer not to share all the details of their worst memories or fears and find the EMDR protocol freeing. 

When you come in for a processing session, your therapist will ask you to identify the "headlines" of the event we are targeting. For instance, you will likely be asked what image represents the worst part of the traumatic experience and what emotions are associated with it as well. The words and details you choose to give are completely yours to decide. For example, if a client had been at Ground Zero on 911, they could select the image of "being alone in the hallway", without having to disclose exactly what happened there or the events before or after that.