What is EMDR – and Why is it So Effective?

“During REM sleep, the brain is attempting to process survival information until it’s resolved.”

Eye Motion Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is a potent trauma treatment developed by Dr. Francine Shapiro (left), a literature professor who was diagnosed with cancer.  The shock of suddenly finding her survival was under threat, affected her so strongly that Dr. Shapiro mindfully paid attention to how her body was reacting.

She discovered by accident that when the survival fear got intense, her eyes would sometimes move back and forth diagonally or from side to side, as if in dreaming – following which she felt less upset, much to her surprise.

So Dr. Shapiro began to study mind-body programs for trauma and PTSD – and went back to school for a PhD in trauma psychology.  EMDR, the treatment she developed,  is now used by the Departments of Defense and Veteran’s Affairs, the World Health Organization, and many others.

EMDR, usually conducted by professionals, is known for the apparently simple way the therapist moves a finger or two from side to side in front of the patient’s eyes.  This guides the eyes  from side to side (or diagonally) the way eyes move naturally during the Rapid Eye Movement (REM) phase of the sleep cycle, the phase in which we do most our most active dreaming.  And dreaming can “process” a lot of trauma – move it from our short-term memory banks where it feels like a terrifying flash happening “right now,” into our long-term memory banks where we feel it’s past, and we’re “over it.”

Please note: EMDR is most successful for treating “incident trauma,” but not for developmental trauma, where it can even frighten patients.  EMDR is most useful in trauma due to one, ten or any finite number of incidents, such as battlefield traumas, car accidents, violence, rape, and adult-onset sudden threats such as Dr. Shapiro’s diagnosis. I use EMDR to calm myself, by sitting with eyes closed and simply moving my eyes back and forth while focusing on the upsetting thought - until it dissipates. This works well with upsetting incidents in the present, such as arguments in which I don’t feel understood or “loved enough.” I also use EMDR to heal grief over specific past incidents such as hurtful acts by a family member.

However, according to Dr. Shapiro, Dr. Bessel van der Kolk and other EMDR proponents, EMDR has not been effective for real healing of developmental trauma, which starts with fetal stress “when the sperm hits the egg” and continues while the infant brain is developing until ages three to seven. As van der Kolk says, in developmental trauma, discrete incidents are not the issue; there’s a continuum of panic until we become a “frightened organism.”  In severe developmental trauma, EMDR has been reported to bring up feelings from infancy so overwhelming to the patient as to be re-traumatizing. (Infants are easy to overwhelm, but healing that pre-concious injury requires intense attachment therapy).

So again, especially for developmental trauma: “Don’t Try This at Home,” that’s my book title.  Do not “Do it yourself.”  Get a highly-trained attachment therapist and whatever healing mode you choose, trust it to the therapist.

When Nightmares are Real

Until you’ve been beside a man/ You don’t know what he wants
You don’t know if he cries at night/ You don’t know if he don’t
When nothin’ comes easy/ Old nightmares are real
Until you’ve been beside a man/ You don’t know how he feels
–Bob Seeger

Dr. Shapiro gave a terrific webinar on EMDR which even explained what nightmares are, how they work in trauma, and how we can leverage this to heal traumatic feelings....  READ MORE: http://attachmentdisorderhealing.com/what-is-emdr/