EMDR is a comprehensive psychotherapy, which is recommended by the National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE) for the Treatment of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
A course of treatment is likely to result in a reduction in problematic symptoms, such as anxiety, panic, intrusive trauma-related memories and thoughts, nightmares, and flashbacks, low mood, and other associated negative changes which can be experienced following a traumatic experience.
I have many years of experience in using EMDR, as an effective treatment for people who have suffered traumas, such as abuse, assault, neglect, accidents, injuries, relationship and attachment difficulties, bullying, medical and surgical incidents, life threatening illness and body changing disorders and disease.
EMDR is a three-phased approach. The first phase is careful preparation, involving important stages, such as forming a strong therapeutic relationship, psycho-education about the impact of trauma, learning and practising strategies to manage intense emotions and memories, and compiling together a history of life events.
It is essential to establish sufficient skills for self-calming, such as grounding techniques, mindfulness approaches and breathing strategies before deciding together whether to proceed with trauma processing. This is particularly important when addressing childhood trauma memories which can be experienced as psychologically challenging.
The second phase involves “adaptive information processing” which can help the brain ‘unblock‘ traumatic and distressing material. ‘Bilateral stimulation’, using either eye movements, alternately tapping each side of the body, or audio tones, has been found to facilitate the adaptive information processing, and is generally achieved successfully with online sessions.
After treatment, clients may find they lose the intensity of painful trauma memories and details may fade. There may be a reduction in distressing emotions associated with the traumatic experience.
The third phase involves integrating the therapeutic work, considering future challenges, and planning goals to re-engage with life with improved confidence and sense of well-being.
The current guidelines set by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) recommend that 8-12 sessions of EMDR treatment may be helpful for clients who have experienced a single traumatic experience. However, for people who have experienced multiple traumas, such as childhood trauma, more sessions may be needed, and 18-24 sessions may be anticipated.
You may, of course, decide not to proceed with EMDR. If so we can discuss alternative types of therapy.
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